Smith lauds EET growth

Simon Smith: "Our main differentiator is the vast number of parts we hold in stock"

The man who launched broadliner Actebis in the UK has hailed the quiet but clinical progress of his new outfit, distributor EET Nordic.

Simon Smith took the UK reins of the spare parts specialist last July and has spent the last 12 months diversifying its VAR base. He was also previously UK sales director for Ingram Micro.

Smith claimed EET, which holds 16,500 parts in its central warehouse in Denmark, is on course to more than double UK revenue to £4.2m for the year to 30 June.

It conducts 65 per cent of its business over the web.

“Our main differentiator is the vast number of parts we hold in stock,” he said. “We do all the stuff the big guys do not want to do.

“We are one of the most unspoken about but most exciting developments in the distribution market.”

EET touched down in the UK three years ago but was initially heavily reliant on a relationship with one reseller. It then inherited another 100 dealers through its 2008 acquisition of Samsung spare parts distributor Romtronics.

“In the UK we have more than doubled our buying customers in the last year to over 400,” said Smith.

Smith denied EET’s three-day standard delivery time was an issue for partners.

“Once people are used to it they learn to manage it,” he said.

“You never know what might happen but there are no plans not to keep it centralised – you couldn’t offer that vast availability of stock at a local level.”