Brother evaluates partners

Brother is taking a close look at its distributor lineup, which has placed its supply contract with Enta Technologies in jeopardy.

Industry sources claimed the relationship between Brother and Enta Technologies has been rocky for some months and that it is only a matter of time before the two vendors part company.

'Enta is still an official distributor but we expect that to change shortly,' said one distributor. 'Enta has been causing Brother problems left, right and centre.'

The source added he would not be surprised by the decision. 'Enta is good at what it does, but it doesn't do printers. The question is, why did Brother sign it up in the first place? You take on a new distributor to grow the business and it hasn't done it. I don't think Brother did its numbers properly.'

Confusion has followed Enta since it became a Brother distributor. The company claimed it was appointed five months before it was officially announced by Brother last year. At the time, Enta blamed David York, former general manager of Brother's printer division, for the delay. Shortly after, York was sacked by Brother for gross misconduct and now faces charges for alleged fraud.

Keith Whittle, general manager for printers at Brother, would not confirm Enta had been dropped. 'We are going through a general review and negotiations process with Enta, but there has been no termination of contract,' he said.

Jon Atherton, Enta's general manager, dismissed the speculation as 'scaremongery'.

'As far as I'm concerned, our relationship with Brother is fine,' he said.