Sapphire raids jewels of fallen rival Assurix

VAR claims there will be no issues over customer database after hiring Assurix's MD, technical director and three other staff

Security VAR Sapphire has hired five former staff of fallen Check Point Gold partner Assurix, despite the fact the firm's assets were bought from administration by Pervasive Networks two weeks ago.

Pervasive acquired Assurix's assets on 6 November, the same day that insolvency practitioner Chantrey Vellacott entered the firm into administration. The deal included customer contracts and the TUPE of staff.

At the time, ChannelWeb heard that Assurix's managing director, David Lannin, and technical director, Adrian Bishop, had opted to move on.

Two weeks on, the duo - along with three other ex-Assurix staff - have shown up at Sapphire, a Darlington-based security consultancy and VAR that works with vendors including Barracuda, Becrypt, Trustwave and MobileIron.

Lannin and Bishop will open Sapphire's new London office, marketing manager Tina Deighton confirmed.

"We have been looking to expand into the south for some time now," she told ChannelWeb. "They have a good knowledge of the industry and fit well into our business. We have a history of working with Check Point and will look to work with them in the future."

Although Pervasive Networks did not return our calls, ChannelWeb understands that the firm has retained a number of Assurix's technical and sales staff.

Deighton claimed there would be no issues over Assurix's client database, which Pervasive owns.

"We are an established company, so have our own client list," she said.

Infinigate UK - formerly Vigil - supplied both Trustwave and SecurEnvoy to Assurix before it went under, but co-managing director Alex Teh (pictured) stressed he harbours no grudge against its former staff.

"We are going to continue working with Pevarsive, which has the customer database, and we already work well with Sapphire, so we have no axe to grind," he said. "Moving forward we will look to grow both organisations' customer base and security organisations."

Andy Kemshall, co-founder of SecurEnvoy, welcomed the development.

"We see this as a positive move as Sapphire is a reseller with which we want to work more closely," he said.

The three other ex-Assurix staff to move across are former sales director Annabel Berry, who joined last month in the post of director of national accounts director, and sales staff Stuart Wright and Gabriella Wight.

In a statement on Sapphire's website, managing director John Morrison said: "I've known David and his team for many years, often working together to bring combined solutions to customers. With a like-minded approach to business, our customers and clients can only benefit from this strong addition to Sapphire."

Lannin added: "We're looking forward to bringing a wealth of security experience and expertise to Sapphire and its clients. Our strengths range from securing mobility and all essential business communications and these fit perfectly within the overall Sapphire proposition."