DEALER PROFILE - Scent and sensibility

Company founded 1986

First Stop headcount 45

Board members Shane Gallagher, managing director; David Nield, finance director; David McTaggart, technical services director; Philippa Maher, training director

Company year end 31 October

Turnover #10 million

Net profit #450,000

Reseller base Surbiton, Surrey

Other locations Croydon, London

Lines sold Microsoft, IBM, Compaq, Hewlett Packard and Novell

Accreditation held Microsoft Solution Provider Partner, IBM Business Partner, Compaq Systems Reseller, Lotus Business Partner, authorised reseller for the above.

Key accounts Chanel, Banca Comercial Italia, DeBeers Diamonds and Westminster City Council

Main distributors Northamber, ETC, Metrologie

Main rivals In volume supply of kit, Dell or Computacenter; in training, Comtec or Harley West

The biggest challenge First Stop is going to face this year We want to expand on our investment in training. We have turned this into a separate firm - First Stop Training Academy. Our biggest challenge will be to get this recognised as having a separate identity and not just the training division of a Var.

How do you intend to do this? We have already separated the sites (training is in Croydon) and we want to get separate sales departments. We will also specialise, so this sales team concentrates on nothing except training.

Thing to watch in the next 12 months One of the main things to keep your eye on is the run up to and launch of Windows NT 5. At the moment, companies are so preoccupied with addressing the year 2000 issue, they don't realise there are other things on the agenda.

NT5 is just one illustration of other issues which will replace this preoccupation. I think it will help dispel the myth that there will be no IT life beyond the millennium.

The role of distributors Many distributors are having to make a lot of changes in the way they do business. They now need to move from the traditional role of only supplying product to educating.

Resellers are choosing their distributors on more than just who can provide next-day service and competitive pricing.

What would you change to make life easier from a business point of view?

In an ideal world, the pace of technological advancement would slow down a little. It's a double-edged sword, but the speed of development can be a real hindrance for both resellers and customers. If it moves too fast, a customer can have invested in it only to find the technology obsolete. Everyone recognises the need for advancement but in the real world of planned launches and finite budgets, obsolescence can lead to problems.

What are your views on IBM's plant in Greenock being used as a service centre for direct accounts (PC Dealer, 19 August)? It seems a week can't go by when there isn't talk of an indirect vendor's move towards a direct approach. There's an increasing paranoia in all sectors, not just IT, that if you aren't 'all things to all men', someone will snap up your market share or customers.

As an IBM reseller, I don't feel threatened by this move. There's room for IBM to have a direct relationship with its users and still sell through the channel.

Why don't you feel threatened that your main supplier is using Greenock to service its direct customers? IBM has sold direct to users for years.

But all our livelihoods as resellers aren't going to evaporate overnight because of it. The customers that buy through the channel do so because they don't want to buy direct. If they did, they would already be buying from Dell.

So what would bother you about the situation? The day we lose business and are undercut by IBM, ask me that question again.