‘Europe is a big part of the business’: Ikonic MD

Chris Perry talks UK vs EU operations, vendor strategy and partnering for the long haul

Manchester-based distributor Ikonic Technology Limited has ambitions across the UK and Europe, backed by results it plans to build on in the coming years.

The company, which hires around 100 staff and has a turnover of £139.9m, is established in the continent through its distribution centre on the outskirts of Frankfurt.

Chris Perry, group MD at Ikonic, tells CRN that when he first joined in 2017, top line was split roughly 70/30 in favour of the UK.

The balance has now moved closer to 50/50.

“Europe is a big part of the business,” says Perry.

“Not many people in the industry fully understand the international logistics of what we do and can do.

“Especially post-Brexit, customers in the UK say, ‘We can’t do this for our important customer in France or Italy. Can you help?’ And we do.”

Beyond Germany, the firm intends to expand further in regions such as France and the Nordics.

Across Europe, focus will be on “sensible, steady, continuous growth, but not at the detriment of margin,” explains the MD.

“We don’t want to sacrifice margin at the expense of the service our customers have come to know and love.”

The company’s chief adds that Ikonic will likely need more warehouse space to cope with rising demand.

In the UK, it already engages with third-party logistics (3PL) warehouses.

“It’s about balancing capacity to service customers with cost base in a fine-margin business,” he explains.

“We’ve got great 3PL partners we can ramp up with in the UK and Germany.”

Revenue evolution

Moving forward, Perry explains the firm wants to focus on margin quality rather than revenue increase.

“I’m all for growth but you can’t take your eye off margin and the bottom line,” he says.

“In the current market, costs are a massive thing.

“The government, I had hope, would probably do more for business, which it hasn’t.

“I’m happy for turnover not necessarily to go up much if the quality of margin is there - that’s more important. As they say: turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.”

For the year ended 31 December 2024, the UK was the only geography where top line faltered, dipping from £59m to £50.6m.

The MD attributes the downward trend to a reflection of the wider economy in the UK compared with the EU.

He states that while Europe does meet challenges on some metrics, it is a wider and bigger market, which enables the firm to win more business across the continent.

In the UK, it also encounters supply challenges from time to time, which it doesn’t get as much in Europe.

Perry does not expect this to remain a long-term issue.

“Sometimes it’s timing,” he highlights.

“For example, the Windows 10 refresh was meant to be this autumn, but they’ve offered a one-year extension on updates.

“IT managers suddenly relaxed. It’s no longer a Q4 2025 problem but something to address into 2026.

“When you’re dealing with a bigger EU pool, these effects are smoothed over by other activity, such as AI datacentres and on-prem infrastructure.

“There’s more going on, so volatility evens out. That’s why we’ve done more in Europe.”

While he describes conflicts around the world as unhelpful for business operations, he adds the industry has moved past any real day-to-day impact.

He also expects AI to be a disruptive force, notably for the IT industry, describing it as exciting and particularly relevant for data interpretation and entry-level business use cases.

The distributor’s boss hopes that what was meant to be a stronger 2025 will become more evident in 2026.

Ikonic also has a small percentage of its operations in the US, which the MD foresees to remain limited for the next few years due to the challenges in that market.

“We work with partners to ensure our customers’ global needs are met, but with what’s going on in the US at the moment, it’s good that it’s a peripheral part of the business rather than a mainstay,” he highlights.

“There is plenty of room to keep doing what we do, do it well, and continue to grow within the EU.”

While the organisation is focused on pipeline and projects over the next year or two, acquisitions do not enter its current plans.

Although M&A moves are not totally out of the picture, Ikonic will prioritise new vendors and brands, with organic evolution keeping it busy in 2026 and beyond.

Vendor portfolio and customer base

Perry identifies Lenovo as Ikonic’s biggest partner.

The company also works with vendors such as Dell, HP, Teltonika, Power Technologies and has its own brand, Cenoka, for docking stations.

“While we have core vendors, the mix changes quarterly,” he tells CRN.

“A few customers’ needs can change numbers dramatically. That’s the nature of the business.”

To keep pace with client demand and tech evolution, the distie intends to team up with more partners, without ever getting into a race to the bottom on value-add.

“If a brand has ten distributors already and there is nowhere to go, we won’t pursue it.

“We want mutual effort. Some vendors expect us to do everything with no partnership. We walk away from that.

“We work to build something. Sometimes quickly, sometimes over years, but we’re in it for the long haul.”

Perry says the firm serves thousands of customers spread across MSPs, VARs as well as corporate and public sector.

“We have clients who say they won’t win business unless we can do something in Europe for them.

“That’s where we come to the fore, because not many people like Ikonic can do that.”