‘The UK plays a major role for us’: 3stepIT leaders talk circularity wins

The two execs discuss working with OEMs, entering North America, and managing datacentres

Long before the circular economy became a trending topic in the channel, it was at the heart of 3stepIT’s mission.

Founded in Finland in 1997, the solution provider quickly expanded in the Nordics in countries like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, where it was met with “significant success.”

To supersede its European this ambition, it partnered with BNP Paribas, forming the BNP Paribas 3 Step IT joint venture, in 2019, which the CEO believes has “created a perfect marriage.”

As part of the joint venture, BNP Paribas provides financing, risk management and market reach, while the Finnish firm delivers its circular solutions and expertise across different countries and organisations.

In an interview with CRN, Jakob Lagander, CEO of 3stepIT, and Kevin Flowerday, UK country manager of BNP Paribas 3 Step IT, discuss this partnership, 3stepIT’s global ambitions, the importance of OEMs.

Lagander says the joint venture with BNP Paribas has allowed 3stepIT “to establish a presence in several European countries, such as the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, we now operate with dedicated offices and personnel.

“Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Romania and Turkey are leasing countries.”

The firm also recently entered the North American market, with the launch of a Texas headquarters and dedicated sales hubs across the US and Canada, as well as the launch of a datacentre lifecycle services division.

“While BNP Paribas does support European clients in North America, they don’t have a direct presence there, so we looked for other avenues to enter the NORAM market.

“We found a perfect fit with Procurri, a company we’ve been working with closely for several years.”

Procurri is a Singapore-headquartered maintenance, lifecycle, ITAD services, and hardware provider.

“One of their divisions was willing to let us take it over, as they recognised that we could scale it faster than they could.”

3stepIT didn’t fully take over the division but rather brought in some of the Procurri team.

Being involved in 19 countries does not seem to be enough for the company, who wants to keep expanding into new markets going ahead, alongside building on its existing partnership.

“Our focus remains on driving sustainable growth in the circular technology space, delivering innovative services to our clients and partners worldwide,” says Lagander.

This expansion push has also been powered by an increase in appetite for circular technology in recent years.

This enhanced demand for circularity stems, according to Lagander, from two main factors.

“There is an alarming rise in e-waste and the rapid acceleration in its growth, so there’s certainly a massive market and an increasing demand to address this issue.

“[The younger generation] is also becoming accustomed to the idea that they don’t always need to buy brand-new products.

“For example, when they need a new smartphone, the question isn’t always ‘Where do I buy a new one?’ but ‘Should I buy a used one?’

“This shift is creating higher value for used equipment, which in turn makes our services even more valuable and appealing to customers.”

The UK evolving at satisfying pace

In the UK, the demand is growing at the same pace as in the other countries 3stepIT is involved in, according to Flowerday.

The interest is coming from both customers and channel providers such as OEMs that want to embed circularity within their offerings.

“It’s almost at the forefront of their agendas,” the UK country manager tells CRN.

The solution provider works with some global OEM providers in the UK, and partners with Computacenter, CDW, Jigsaw, Softcat, XMA, and Sync.

“We cover a broad spectrum, primarily in enterprise resellers delivering hardware-centric solutions,” adds Lagander.

“We also work with some of the main carriers in the UK, delivering circular solutions to their enterprise customers.”

According to Flowerday, the organisation is in full growth mode.

“Our real focus is on bringing on more partners, especially within the channel and OEMs, where circularity can add value for both the businesses and their customers.

“The UK remains a key area of focus for us.”

Flowerday adds that the UK is one of the main countries in its joint venture ecosystem.

“Although it’s a JV country and not technically a 3stepIT country, it’s been operational for 26 years and plays a major role in our ecosystem,” says the country manager.

Regionally, the company employs 25 people working purely within the joint venture structure and also counts a wider BNP leasing support network.

Channel focus

OEMs are a big focus for the circular technology services provider, as 100 per cent of its worldwide revenue is done with OEMs and manufacturer.

“It differs from country to country, but at a consolidated level, we basically have 50 per cent of our revenue direct and 50 per cent through partners,” says Lagander.

Globally, the firm made €1.4bn (£1.2bn) in revenue last year.

In the Nordics, it brought in just under €800m in revenue last year.

“I think the channel’s role will increase, and that’s natural,” adds the CEO.

Thanks to its existing reputation in the Nordics, companies often reach out to them directly.

But in the rest of Europe and North America, the company aims to reach customers through partners.

“As a result, the channel will be a priority for us going forward.”

In the Nordics, the firm works with names such as Dustin, Advania, Telia, and Telenor.

“Depending on the deal and customer needs, sometimes we compete, and other times we collaborate to submit tenders together,” he explains.

The company currently has a headcount of 520 employees, only including the employees working directly with 3stepIT, not those in the joint venture.

Demand per country

Lagander adds that the demand for circularity also depends on the government of said countries.

“Some countries and governments have taken a strong stance and published targets on circularity.

“France, alongside Denmark and Finland, are leading the charge.

“In other countries, like Sweden, the government hasn’t really pushed for circularity.

“Some large companies, being dependent on exports and international business, recognise that doing things in a circular way helps differentiate them in the global market and makes them more attractive to customers and consumers.”

Flowerday adds that 3stepIT provides the same services in the country it expanded in alone or through the joint venture with BNP.

“The key difference is that BNP Paribas wanted to partner with 3stepIT to offer these services to their customers, partners, and channel providers.

“There’s a growing demand for circular solutions, and in those joint venture countries, we’re able to leverage BNP’s existing OEM and channel partner relationships, which have a long history in those markets.”

In the new territory in which the organisation is involved, North America, Trump’s tariffs and macroeconomic instability created confusion and instability beyond the IT channel.

Despite 3stepIT anticipating the re-election of Trump when it considered expanding there, Lagander admits that “there’s no way to predict what will happen in the future.

The company’s original plan was to set up a large refurbishment centre in Toronto, Canada, but the execs are leaving room for the possibility of having to revise plans with the new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, “which could disrupt [its] cross-border operations.”

M&As may come

The organisation recently invested in LeaseCloud, a Swedish platform provider, to expand its offering to SMBs.

In the future, it remains interested in inorganic growth, and is actively looking for technology that complements its services portfolio, or IP that strengthens what it already offers, explains Lagander.

“Similarly, we’ve invested in companies like Skytech [Control] in Norway, which has IP for automating employee onboarding.

“Our focus is on acquiring capabilities rather than market share.

“We also look at expanding into new markets, so we’ve prioritised countries based on the demand for workplace IT and circular services.”

Hardware and datacentres: shifts and evolution

As shown by its new NORAM activities, the solution provider is also doubling down its focus on datacentres, for a couple of reasons.

“The datacentre market is growing fast, driven by trends like AI,” explains Lagander.

“The emergence of AI has led to an explosion in demand for compute power.

“As we looked at IT spend, we saw that while the workplace IT market was flat or declining, datacentres were seeing growth.”

The CEO also tells CRN that many customers expressed interest in managing datacentre equipment the same way they manage their laptops; through a circular model.

“They want a solution where they can pay a monthly fee for equipment and return it when they’re done with it.

“We see demand for circular solutions in the datacentre market, and that’s why we believe it’s a space we’re well suited to enter.”

He explains that datacentres have been focused on sustainability and measuring environmental impact for a long time, but they haven’t really looked at circularity, and that the demand for circular solutions just started growing.