InTechnology loses BT service contract
Distributor plays down loss as telecoms giant chooses an alternative supplier
InTechnology has failed to secure the renewal of its BT service contract, adding further pressure after losing business from integrator Integralis last year.
The firm has been forced to make redundancies and reported an operating loss of £13 million in the six months ended 30 September 2005 (CRN, 21 November).
The BT service contract has been tendering since the summer and the telecoms giant has been working with InTechnology for the past three years.
Steve Pearce, chief operating officer at InTechnology, did not feel losing the contract would hit margins too hard.
"BT has decided they want an alternative supplier. I don't know why they have moved from us, but we are relaxed about this. There will not be much loss on the margin front.," he said.
Pearce said that InTechnology has successfully realigned since losing the Integralis contract, where business has been replaced with smaller more profitable business in the last four months.
"We have been restructuring the business. Losing BT will have a short-term product value impact, but will have no effect in the mid-term," added Pearce.
But Keith Humphreys, managing consultant at EuroLAN research, said: "Losing the BT business will be a significant blow to them. They seem to be clutching at straws for answers too."