Buoyant figures boost Upgrade Options

Storage and memory specialist has best month ever

Storage and memory specialist Upgrade Options is bucking the downward trend by announcing its best trading month ever.

Earlier this year general manager Glenn Morrison claimed that the company's turnover would reach £10m by the end of the year, but the company has already hit that target, he said.

Upgrade Options was formed in 1996 following a management buy-out from then parent company Datrontech, which went into receivership last year.

"October is the best ever result for the team," said Morrison. "Even after factoring in the irregularities of September the numbers add up to real growth and there seems no let-up in November."

The reason that the company has done so well, Morrison said, is the decision to concentrate on specialist areas such as storage and memory, which allow for higher margins.

"We have spent most of the year developing Origin Storage, our new storage company, to take advantage of the growth market in this sector," he explained, adding that the management team has been able to make procedural changes, engage in new supplier relationships and "dramatically" cut the cost base.

Rob Epstein, general manager of PC components at distributor Computer 2000, said: "The components market has just got interesting. Memory prices have been in decline, and the market has just taken a turnaround.

"Unit shipments are still holding up, especially with things like Windows XP driving the need for more memory."