BT reveals ambitious plans for services arm

Telecoms giant looks to double turnover for renamed services division

BT is looking to net turnover of £2bn for its services division

The services arm of BT aims to more than double its turnover to £2bn within five years.

The division is undergoing the process of being renamed before the end of the year, and is the result of a series of acquisitions made by BT over the past two years.

BT acquired Basilica last August and snapped up Lynx in October last year. The firm has bought five resellers in the past three years, including dabs.com and Skynet.

The combined turnover from the five channel companies totals about £700m. However, parent company BT is intent on reaching £2bn by 2013.

Nick Wiltshire, sales director of BT Lynx/BT Basilica, told CRN: “BT wants us to be a £2bn organisation within five years. Some of that growth will come from organic growth within the group, but part of that will also be through acquisition.

“We are going to look after and work with partners, vendors and distributors that have worked with us in the past, rather than the ones that have sat on the sidelines,” he added.

Tom Kelly, UK managing director of rival Logicalis, said: “There have been rumours for a while that [BT Lynx and Basilica] have been given the go-ahead to make more acquisitions. The big issue will be getting everyone from the different cultures pointing in the same direction and I seriously question BT’s ability to do that successfully.”