Apple reseller Trams to double up

Reseller Trams is looking to double its workforce over the next six months, largely due to an increase in its Apple business.

Reseller Trams is looking to double its workforce over the next six months, largely due to an increase in its Apple business. Trams, which employs about 50 people, is looking to add another 50 by the middle of next year following a surge in demand on the Apple side of the firm's business.

Hugh Kirby, managing director of Trams, said: "The Apple side of things has been fairly flat for the past three years, but it has picked up suddenly. Apple has had a lot of success on the consumer side with the iMac, but I'm not quite sure why we have this increase on the corporate side."

The London-based VAR, which also deals in PC sales and services, has started to turn down business because it does not have sufficient staff. It believes an extra 20 staff could cope with current demand, but expects business to rocket after 2000. Half the vacancies are in the company's services division; 15 per cent of Trams business is through services, but Kirby intends to double this.

Like most Apple resellers, Trams has suffered from the recent product shortage, especially the latest G4s. And while the company is not part of the Independent Apple Dealers Association, Kirby said he understands the frustration that many dealers are feeling.

"Everybody is in the same boat. We have all suffered from lack of product, especially in the UK. I don't however believe, unlike some, that what has happened is part of any master plan for Apple to go direct. It has just tried to do too many things at once."