Avnet doubles Sun partner base

Distributor increases number of Business Partners

Avnet has hailed its first Sun partner push since it acquired rival distributor Access a runaway success.

The Avnet Partner Solutions Sun Division has doubled its Business Partner numbers in the UK over the past six months, following an intensive recruitment process.

Andrew Sayers, sales director Sun and emerging vendors at Avnet Partner Solutions, said: “We are all under pressure to grow our business. As Access and now as part of Avnet, we are getting ourselves into a position where we have a genuine value proposition to take to market.”

Sayers said the distributor had recruited purely new partners and not existing Sun resellers, but admitted the UK Sun market was cut-throat.

“The UK is probably the most competitive market in the world in terms of distribution and we want to take a major piece of that market. We have to make sure we can genuinely compete,” he said.

Charlotte Selby, partner and alliances sales director at Sun UK, said: “I’m very pleased with how things are going with Avnet Partner Solutions. It has really picked up the Channel Development Partner (CDP) challenge and is operating as a true CDP for us. One of the things we are very clear on is value in the Sun channel.”

Selby refused to be drawn on the level of competition in Sun’s UK distribution market.

“It is always evolving, but there is nothing on the agenda for tomorrow,” she said.

Avnet acquires Access Distribution