Green shoots claims fail to convince VARs

Signs of recovery: the channel is remaining guarded despite a spate of positive financial results

Despite economists claiming they are observing green shoots in the UK market, the channel is more hesitant, with most executives believing the worst may yet come.

CRN spoke to senior managers at 15 distributors and resellers. Eight rejected suggestions that the worst of the storm has passed, despite reports from the likes of the OECD and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research that the UK economy is beginning to stabilise.

CRN’s straw poll follows a glut of relatively buoyant financial results from channel players. Global resellers Systemax and Insight both reported a stabilisation in their European businesses, while network integrator Dimension Data (DiData) unveiled a four per cent rise in half-year operating profits.

However, Tom Kelly, managing director of integrator Logicalis UK, said he did not expect the market to improve until October or November.

“I would not say the market is picking up,” he said. “What we are seeing is that the amount of approval time and due diligence on each deal is taking longer and longer.
“This time last year it was taking about eight weeks per deal; now it is taking between 12 and 16 weeks.”

Graham Jones, UK managing director of VAR Integralis, agreed. “I certainly wouldn’t celebrate or lower the guard just yet,” he said.

Executives at VARs Quadnet, ANS, Concorde, Form, Bear IT and CCS Media, as well as distributor CCD, took the more optimistic view.

John Bunyard, managing director of CCD, said: “There are signs that investment decisions that were being deferred are slowly being freed up.”