Paul Eccleston

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Vice president, Azlan and SDG EMEA (part of the Tech Data Group)

Career so far As vice president for Azlan and SDG EMEA (part of the Tech Data group), Europe's largest value based distributor, I am responsible for driving business strategy and growth for the group through its value-based products, solutions and services. I have a proven executive management track record and over 20 years' experience in the IT channel. Under my leadership SDG grew to $2.41bn in EMEA, and I led the sale of SDG to Tech Data Corporation. Having previously held senior executive positions with leading industry players including P&P, Acuma and Computacenter, I joined SCH in 2002 where I headed up the Enterprise Solutions business growing sales revenues to €500m across Europe. In 2007, I was appointed to the UK board, taking on group responsibility for vendor strategy, relationship management and alliances.

What was your first job and were you any good at it? I was an apprentice aircraft engineer which I loved, and as yet I haven't heard of any aircraft that I worked on falling out of the sky.

Who was your top teenage pin-up? Sally James from Tiswas.
My colleagues won't know this about me but... I am a Liverpool FC fan.

What is your favourite snack? A Wagon Wheel, although why aren't they the size they used to be?

What has been your career high point to date? Driving the growth of the SDG business and then seeing it develop and flourish as part of Tech Data.

Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly? 2013 has been a great year, especially as Manchester United had their worst start to a season in 24 years.

What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living? After insisting that I am neither Jack Dee nor Jack Duckworth, I tell them that I am Kenny Dalglish's linguist coach.

If I wasn't working in the channel I would probably be... working with something that has an engine or a ball, or both.

What will be the channel's biggest challenge in 2014? Creating a strategy for our businesses to prosper as growth returns to the economy while the demands of our customers and the industry we work in changes at an unprecedented rate. This will require some degree of transformation for all our businesses, and making the right choices in the next year will be critical.

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