Midwich's new boss eyes overseas expansion

Stephen Fenby takes over from Nick Culley and has bold plans for the AV distributor

Stephen Fenby has taken the Midwich managing director mantle from Nick Culley, CRN has learnt.

The management reshuffle sees Culley take on the role of part-time chairman of the Diss-based specialist distributor, with plans to work on ‘ad hoc’ projects.

Fenby, who was previously finance director at the firm said he was excited about his new role.

“Nick had worked in the business for over 20 years, the last six as managing director. During that time the business has grown and become stronger. Nick felt that now would be a good time to facilitate his exit,” he told CRN.

“I have been involved in many aspects of the group since joining as finance director six years ago. One particular area of my involvement has been leading our seven acquisitions and notably the recent acquisition of [French audiovisual distributor] Sidev in June this year.”

Fenby added that Midwich has increased its profits year-on-year since 2005 and is on track for £200m turnover for the year to 31 December 2010.

“As managing director my ambition is to continue this growth both internally and by acquisition. Our UK business is large but we still see many opportunities for growth both organically and through acquisition in related segments,” he said.

But the acquisition strategy will not always be in the UK, he predicted.

“Our first overseas acquisition [Square One in Ireland] has had a very successful initial year with us, achieving a significant sales growth and a return to profitability,” Fenby said. “Although it is still early days, we see great potential for the Sidev business in France. Our initial experiences of acquiring overseas have shown that our business model can be successful in other geographical markets. As a result it is likely that we will look to expand further overseas.”