Xerox has formalised two new reseller partnerships covering sales-office equipment and services in Bristol and Scotland.

Bristol-based Portrayal has been appointed a Xerox Office Business Partner (XOBP), while Aspen Solutions in Cumbernauld, Scotland has become an official Xerox concessionaire, in which the reseller makes a commitment to only sell Xerox kit.

Sebastiaan Crebolder, channels manager at Xerox, said the vendor was extending its channel reach.

“In our business, there is almost a direct correlation between the feet on the street and the number of multifunction devices (MFDs) we sell,” he said. “We are trying to increase our feet on the street to ensure that more customers can involve Xerox in their buying decisions.”

Both Portrayal and Aspen will source kit through Xerox’s distributors, Computer 2000 and Ingram Micro, but will be assigned their own business development managers and have access to various other resources direct from Xerox.

“The main areas of growth are expected to be A3 colour MFDs and managed print services (MPS),” said Crebolder. “Portrayal in particular is especially targeting MPS.”

Vincent Harkins, managing director of Aspen Solutions, said it chose Xerox for the quality of its support and services.

“We would not be able to keep our engineers trained on all the pieces of equipment, but Xerox offers and enables us to offer customers world-class aftercare service,” he said.

Aspen, over the past 12 years, has moved from selling photocopiers to selling diverse solutions and MFDs and local vendor support has become critical.

“We had to quickly change our skillset to survive,” Harkins said.

Gary Tozer, sales director at Portrayal, agreed that customer and service support is key to the deal.

“We have a terrific chance to open up new business opportunities, specifically in the professional colour market, where Xerox excelled this past decade,” he said.

Portrayal will focus on integration with backend software applications via Xerox’s standard EIP interface.

“This will enable us to continue working on bespoke integration with new clients,” said Tozer.