Upgrade Options upbeat on business

Multi-channel supplier to 'double business next year'

Multi-channel supplier Upgrade Options has taken a bullish stance by making a bold claim that it will double its business over the next year.

The privately owned company, which is due to reveal turnover of more than £5m for fiscal 2000, is predicting turnover in excess of £10m for the following year.

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

The company is split into four divisions: Origin Storage, the company's own brand of storage software specifically for Dell systems; Upgrade Distribution, bought from Datrontech; and two online services, SMCDirect.com, which was bought from failed mail order dealer SMC Computers, and PCUpgrader.com, which are aimed respectively at the business-to-business and business-to-consumer (B2C) markets.

Andy Cordial, group managing director at the company, said: "We have never been stronger than we are today. Medium-sized resellers such as the old SMC and Techdirect have been squeezed out, and only the biggest or most niche have survived."

Upgrade has responded to market conditions by creating its own storage brand, building a distribution channel, enhancing its corporate sales front and investing in the online B2C environment, Cordial said.

Glenn Morrison, general manager at Upgrade, said: "We managed to smash our bullish targets of last year despite the market climate and are fully confident of achieving 100 per cent growth this year.

"The upgrade market remains a great opportunity because both home users and businesses are likely to go for the upgrade option rather than buying new systems."

Chris Jones, senior analyst at Canalys.com, agreed that the market has a promising future and is a good way for customers to reduce IT spending.

"It is definitely a growth area and resellers are having to look at any opportunity to find growth. The market has slowed over 1999 and 2000 and has been pretty soft in the UK and Europe," he said.