Ultima nears £60m mark in stellar FY11

Integrator enjoys impressive sales and profit spike after investing in top staff and key partners

The recruitment of top staff and a focus on key vendor partners allowed VAR Ultima Business Solutions to enjoy a stonking 2011 fiscal year.

The Reading-based reseller saw sales for the 12 months to the end of March 2011 grow 20 per cent year on year to £58.2m. Operating profit increased 48.6 per cent to more than £1.5m. This equates to a half-point rise in operational margins, which now stand at 2.6 per cent.

In its directors' report for the year, Ultima claimed one of the secrets of its success was "continual investment in people, systems and infrastructure". Singled out was a 10 per cent increase in technical customer support staff, as well as an expansion of the firm's London office and improvements to its Berkshire headquarters.

Ultima also claims to have completed a company-wide infrastructure refresh during FY11 and created a new post for someone to "streamline the company's systems". The firm also focused on recruiting "market-leading account directors and senior consultants" during the year.

It also upped investment in key vendors' technologies, including Cisco and Microsoft. It is one the software giant's select band of Large Account Resellers in the UK.

The VAR also singled out retention of key accounts as a growth driver, claiming that of its 50 biggest clients in FY11 32 remain from the preceding year. Another 13 of the top 50 for FY10 retain an "active trading account", claimed Ultima.

Looking ahead to FY12, the directors' report picks out further internal investment as the best way to drive more top- and bottom-line growth.

"Ultima intends to continue its strategy of pursuing organic growth, winning and retaining business through the development and delivery of cost-effective and flexible IT infrastructure solutions," says the report. "In order to achieve this, Ultima is totally committed to ensuring it employs the best-in-class technical and sales people, and has the most efficient infrastructure and back-office systems.

"As such, a key investment focus area for Ultima in the forthcoming year will be internal systems and operational procedures. As Ultima continues to expand and grow, the company will ensure it has the appropriate systems to support the needs of its customers and maintain its status as one of the UK's leading providers of IT infrastructure solutions."