Azzurri quashes rumours

VAR claims it is well on track to hit sales targets for its financial year

Azzurri has hit back at channel rumours of unrest by claiming it is in line to hit its sales target for its financial year to June.

The mammoth VAR is currently seeking a financial director and CRN understands it has recently lost a number of other key staff to rival resellers.

But Joe Doyle, marketing director at Azzurri, quashed any suggestion it had hit a rocky patch: “Our numbers are in line with objectives for the year ended June and our latest figures for February are ahead of expectations.”

He confirmed chief financial officer Ian Glanville is to shortly leave the firm but claimed no other top positions were vacant. “We’re at a size where companies like to dish the dirt on us and we take that as a compliment,” he said.

Channel gossip that Azzurri’s private equity (PE) backer PPM Capital is keen to see a bigger return on its £182.5m investment is also gathering.

One well-placed onlooker said: “There is talk in the PE space that PPM has overpaid for Azzurri and would like to get more out of it.”

But Doyle emphasised that PPM is fully satisfied with Azzurri’s progress: “I can guess where this speculation came from because 3i recently won an award for best exit when they sold us to PPM. The insinuation is that PPM must have paid over the odds, but PPM is totally happy with the deal it struck,” he said.

Chief executive Martin St Quinton, added: “Over the past year, Azzurri has made two strategic acquisitions, MiTech Group and Sirocom. Accordingly, Azzurri's sales strategy and company structure have been revised to fit the business moving forward.”

Jess Thompson-Hughes, managing director of distributor React said: “When you’re buying smaller companies, management will always be looking at their watch until they can leave.”