Getting the last laugh

Prince Charles talks to Midwich founders at Cambridge Science Park in 1984

We have just celebrated our 30th anniversary. One of our co-founders, David Watson, said: “When I think back to 1979 when the company was formed, I remember that my friends laughed at the idea of computer shops and the notion of a personal computer being part of everyone’s everyday lives.

"Well, who is laughing now?”

Midwich started life as a distributor of semiconductors and a manufacturer of disc drives for BBC micro-computers. In the early 1980s, we added printers and monitors.

In 1985, the business was acquired by the MEMEC group and we then became Midwich Thame Limited. Growth followed, with sales increasing swiftly from some £2m in 1985 to nearly £14m by 1990.

I joined Midwich in 1991. Even though we called the company a distributor when I started, our largest customers were public sector organisations. Printers dominated our product range and Brother was our largest supplier.

We went trade-only in 1995. Sales tipped £83m in five years, and our staff swelled to 85.

Printers remained the largest product area, bolstered by then-emerging multi-function devices. In 1996, we introduced digital cameras and agreed a distribution deal with the projector division of Sanyo.

A 2001 management buyout from Avnet gave us local owners and leadership. That same year we identified an opportunity to sell AV products through traditional IT channels.

There followed two crucial strategic changes: ceasing distribution of Xerox hardware, and withdrawal from PCs and notebooks. Both these business areas had become commercially unattractive.

We started to concentrate on AV and imaging, creating dedicated divisions for consumer electronics, specialist displays, projector lamps and auto-ID. In 2006 we acquired technical AV distributor True Colours. In three years, that unit has seen sales quadruple.

A year later we bought Invision UK, a specialist distributor of home automation products to the custom install channel and then split off a division to focus on large format displays, TVs and home cinema projectors.

And we have continued to acquire ­ including, last year, assets of Owl Visual and Synergix.

The culture at Midwich is very much about partnerships and working hard to develop staff, customer and vendor relationships. More than 20 of our staff have been working for us for 10 years or more ­ this enables partners to enjoy some continuity in their relationship with us.

We have a dedicated and loyal team who are passionate about our prosperity and development. We have come a long way in 30 years and plan to go on investing to ensure the future is equally healthy.

So, what do we look like today? With five office locations and two warehouses in the Midlands, the Midwich Group employs about 230 staff with sales of about £170m a year.

This, our 30th anniversary year, continues to see the business develop. According to market watcher Futuresource, we have 43 per cent of UK projector distribution and an 80 per cent share of large format display distribution.

Despite a challenging economy and weak markets for our core products, we think we are on track for another strong year.

Nick Culley is managing director at Midwich