Micro-P goes back to school with AV

Distributor aims to be a true contender in the audiovisual space after rejig

O'Keefe: New division is an evolution of Micro-P's audiovisual strategy

Micro Peripherals (Micro-P) claims the launch of its new education division will see it “up its game” in the audiovisual (AV) sector.

The 12-strong team will incorporate the distributor’s AV resources but will be led by Richard Bovingdon, who was previously sales director at VAR Lanway where he focused on the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) market.

Micro-P managing director Gerry O’Keefe said the new approach was merely an evolution of its AV strategy.

The division, which went live today, will also draw on the distributor’s other product teams in order to offer a one-stop shop to education resellers.

“Over time we are evolving to channel-centric sales teams where appropriate,” explained O’Keefe. “We did it with retail, e-tail and telecoms, and education is just an evolution of that.”

The unit will focus on drumming up high-end AV opportunities for resellers in the BSF market, as well as among local authorities, academies and primary capital projects.

“Richard and his team are very well respected by the education resellers who will look to them for expertise in design and architecture,” said O’Keefe. “We play our part in the AV market but are looking to up our game and provide more value add to resellers.”

Darren Lewitt, divisional director at Midwich, argued that Micro-P would find education tough going.

“You already have four [AV] distributors in that space with Midwich, Steljes, Medium and Sahara,” he said. “But we wish them all the best of luck if they bring something new to the party.”