Bull charges at private sector

Integrator's new UK sales chief draws up plans to dominate mid-market

Integrator Bull has the commercial market firmly in its sights and plans to become the UK's leading IT provider among mid-sized professional services firms.

Leading the private sector charge is Andrew Carr, who was installed earlier this month as UK and Ireland sales and marketing director of the France-based firm. He told ChannelWeb he intends to "reinvigorate the [Bull] brand" across the British Isles.

Being implemented in this country is the firm's BullWay programme, a top-down corporate strategy to accelerate sales growth and establish market leadership across Europe over the next two years. Carr is aiming to grow UK and Ireland revenue some 50 per cent faster than the market growth rate, but added that attracting top talent and minimising staff churn is of equal importance.

"One of the key metrics for me is whether people think Bull is a great place to work," he said. "If we have that employee community, that will be as big a success for me [as sales growth]."

In its most recently available financial results, Bull's 2009 UK sales stood at £26.06m, more or less flat on 2008. Operating losses were reduced by almost two thirds year on year to £701,000. The group's global sales for 2010 stood at €1.24bn (£1.08bn).

Key to its top-line expansion plans in this country will be a concerted drive to ramp up the traditionally public sector-focused firm's engagements in the commercial arena. Bull plans to push deeper into the legal and professional services markets, said Carr, with a laser focus on the mid-market.

"There are legislative changes that will make M&A much easier, that will drive consolidation [in those markets]," he added. "We do not believe that anyone has focused exclusively on the tier-two space. We very much want to become the technology and service integrator of choice [there]."

But the sales chief stressed that the integrator has no plans to leave its core markets behind.

"For me the priority is twofold," said Carr (pictured). "In the markets where we have had success -- public sector, primarily local government and education - we need to articulate that we have more to offer them than we have done previously."