PC Dealer takes the lid off Rapid dispute

We reveal the events which led to reseller suing two employees.

The reseller business is tough enough - with rising competition and falling margins making every trading week a running battle - without the re-seller's employees suddenly becoming the opposition.

This was exactly the position that Apple reseller The Rapid Group found itself in on 1 October when managing director John McCartney was informed that two sales managers at its subsidiary Apple Centre Cambridge (ACC) had set up their own company and were allegedly approaching ACC clients (PC Dealer, 7 October). Rapid has now started legal proceedings against the two.

McCartney said initially he had no idea that Marc Carver, sales manager, and Ron Shenton, pre-press sales manager, had set up their own company - Pre-Press Ltd. 'We didn't suspect anything,' he said, 'But I got a phone call from Tullio Ponsy, managing director of Monotype, who told me what was going on.'

Ponsy's intervention might seem like the work of a good Samaritan but in reality he and Monotype, which accounts for five per cent of ACC's business, have a past connection with one of the employees in question.

Shenton was a sales representative at Monotype but ended 10 years' employment at the company to become sales manager at Kings Langley reseller Flame which sells products for US vendor Pre-Press.

Following a brief return to Monotype, Shenton took up his position at ACC in July. He then set up Pre-Press - to resell Monotype products - with Carver on 8 September. Shenton claims the choice of company name was a coincidence, as he had chosen the name from a list presented to him and Carver by Bird Luckin, chartered accountant and registered address for the new reseller.

While Shenton said he did not leave Monotype on bad terms, he later admitted that he did not leave on entirely good terms. It has since emerged that Monotype is consulting its solicitors about taking criminal action against Shenton. If action is taken, Montype will allege theft of company property.

It has also been alleged by a source close to Monotype that on his departure from the vendor, Shenton procured a number of files containing information about the vendor's customers.

Meanwhile, Rapid Group sources claimed that files had been found in the possession of Shenton on 1 October when three Rapid directors confiscated the sales manager's briefcase and belongings before he and Carver were escorted from ACC premises.

Shenton has admitted that he took some files from Monotype. He said: 'Some documents were given to me, they were leads to follow up on some commercial customers. The company said that the files were of no use to it.' But he refused to name the person who helped him obtain the files.

Allegations have also been made that the Carver and Shenton were actively approaching customers at the recent IPEX show in Birmingham where they and Henry Bailes, an ACC sales representative - who has since been dismissed by Rapid but is not involved in the legal proceedings - were manning a stand sponsored by Monotype. But Carver denied that he or his colleagues approached customers at the show in a Pre-Press capacity.

He said: 'At IPEX we were representing ACC, Monotype and another company Scangraphics. Pre-Press was not mentioned at all.'

However, it is understood that Rapid Group is in possession of statements made by customers who were approached by Pre-Press at IPEX. Shenton said he found it surprising that such statements exist since he and his colleagues had only been working as ACC staff on behalf of Scangraphics and Monotype.

Carver claimed the only customer that had been approached about Pre-Press' services was from a personal client list he had brought with him to ACC when he joined the reseller a year ago. He stated all meetings with this client were conducted outside company time. He added that any leads gained at the show went straight to ACC.

However, PC Dealer has seen a letter dated 18 September, just 10 days after the company had been set up. Written on ACC headed paper, it was sent to the same address as Monotype but addressed to a representative from IPA Systems, which is the holding company for Monotype. The letter is signed by Marc Carver, sales manager at ACC.

It reads that following on from the success of the IPA (Monotype) stand at the show, leads from IPEX should be dealt with in a specific manner.

The letter states that all leads given to Apple Centre Cambridge should be sent to Ron Shenton on a certain fax number.

PC Dealer's enquiries have shown that the fax number quoted is that of Pre-Press. A representative from Bird Luckin confirmed this when PC Dealer rang up asking for Pre-Press' fax number.

Rapid Group stated that the reseller would bring a civil case for gross misconduct against the two, while Shenton will be facing criminal charges from his previous employee Monotype. As far as both Shenton and Carver are concerned, they are unfamiliar with what legal action may be brought against them. Both men conceded they expected that they would lose their jobs after they set up their own company.

Shenton said: 'I can understand John McCartney being upset. We are going to go on and make a go of the business.'

But after the directors of Monotype issued a statement specifying that the vendor will have no dealings with Carver or Shenton or anyone associated with Pre-Press in the future, carrying on as a reseller may prove more difficult than they imagine.