Westcoast plots reseller surprise as it hits £1bn turnover

Distributor prepares to deliver special gift to one lucky VAR whose order propels its turnover through magical number

Westcoast is gearing up to make a special delivery to one lucky UK reseller as the distributor prepares to celebrate a landmark £1bn turnover this week.

The Theale-based firm will send sales and marking director Alex Tatham on a personal visit to the as-yet-unidentified reseller whose order will take the distributor's revenue past its £1bn goal this week.

Speaking to CRN, Tatham said he was looking forward to delivering the special gift. "We have a nice gift to give to the reseller, along with a very nice plaque to say thank you for taking our revenue past £1bn," he said.

Although Tatham would not reveal the nature of the gift, he said it would be "something nice and shiny that everyone wants for Christmas."

He added it had been a positive year for Westcoast.

"It has been a year where a lot of things have gone right for us," he said. "The UK market has generally done very well and there is no question that more Apple stock is going through the channel. We are growing in just about every area of the business - whether this is PCs or servers. Printers have even remained flat for us.

"Clearly there has also been some market share grab for us, particularly with tier two to four resellers, but there have also been a couple of big successes for us, particularly Misco and Amazon," he added.

Although not every Westcoast vendor has "smashed through the park", he admitted, Tatham was particularly proud of the firm's Microsoft success, which saw the distributor grow its Microsoft market share from 15 per cent at the start of the year to 31 per cent.

"Next year we will continue to grow our business. We have lots of new solutions coming into place as well as new volume opportunities. And we will continue to move into other territories such as unified communications and stationery. There is a lot going on in our business."