Ian Goodfellow swaps SHI for Advania UK

The channel pro steps into a new leadership role

Advania UK this week announced channel vet Ian Goodfellow as its new leader, stepping into the role of managing director VAR.

He joins the UK arm of the Swedish group from SHI where he was vice president of sales for Europe for almost three years.

Goodfellow also boasts a career history at other Top VARs, with nearly seven years at Softcat and seven and a half years at Computacenter.

Speaking to CRN, he reveals what drove his decision to leave SHI for Advania UK.

“With the recent acquisitions and people-first Nordic heritage, Advania is currently the most exciting story in the UK channel. After meeting with Hege, and the SLT it was clear that there is strong alignment.”

He reports to group CEO Hege Store, who has been acting as interim UK CEO since February after James Hardy stepped down five months into the role.

"We have built a strong position in the UK in a short period of time. Securing a leader of Ian’s calibre, with such a deep understanding of the UK competitive market, is a testament to our growing reputation,” said Store.

“His track record at some of our biggest competitors in building high-performing teams and his commitment to sustainable, scalable growth make him the perfect fit for our decentralised, entrepreneurial culture. We see this as a real coup.”

Goodfellow takes the reins from Paul Barlow, who served as interim VAR director and played a significant role in shaping the division during an important period of growth.

Goodfellow tells CRN the immediate priority in his first week will be spent on the road “meeting teams and listening to as many people” as possible.

“We have huge potential, and I want my plan ready to execute in H2,” he says.

He reveals where he sees the biggest opportunities for Advania UK to differentiate in an increasingly crowded MSP landscape.

“In such a crowded market, our people and their customer intimacy is a big differentiator and something I will certainly be focusing on,” he says.

“Much of our opportunity for growth comes from our proven ability to integrate hardware, software and services into business outcomes for our customers. We have depth of expertise, and scale.”

By the end of this year, Goodfellow wants Advania to reach new heights as an employer and partner to customers.

“Growth, obviously, but perhaps more importantly I want Advania to become a destination employer in the UK VAR space and the #1 choice for our target customers in the mid-market, helping them to navigate cyber resilience, realise AI adoption and achieve increased efficiency across the IT stack.”