EquIP looks to gain foothold in Europe

Increase in profits prompts decision to expand

Value-added distributor equIP is looking to jump onto the services acquisition trail and establish a continental presence, following a 30 per cent increase in profits last year.

The success of the company's training and consulting services, combined with increased profit, prompted the decision to expand.

EquIP has reported £1.2m profit for the 2003 financial year, on turnover of just under £15m.

Co-founder of equIP, Neil Ledger, said revenue from the firm's 24-hour technical support and training offerings had contributed significantly to the improved results.

"The training and services business has helped us grow the company and we are looking to expand this further," said Ledger.

With the slowdown leading to a 'too many skills chasing too few projects' scenario, there is services expertise available for acquisition, Ledger said.

"A few services firms are on the market - but for the right price, anyone is available," he said.

Ledger claimed European expansion was also on the cards. "This is a statement of intent," he said.

"A few [mainland] European companies are coming to the UK, so we are looking at the opportunity for us to expand into Europe."

Scott Dobson, vice president EMEA at Expand Networks, said equIP's plan to move into Europe would benefit the channel.

"EquIP has added value to some of our end-users by offering technical support," he said. "There is a market for a value-add distributor in Europe."

He said it was difficult for smaller vendors to build relationships with pan-European value-add distributors because of their relationships with vendors such as Cisco.