C2000 sales staff commission cut amid accounts probe

Source claims back-office and sales staff will only receive half their commission payments for up to the last quarter

As many as 250 staff at Computer 2000 have had their commission payments for up to the past three months halved amid an accounting probe into parent company Tech Data, according to sources.

The distributor refused to confirm or deny the move when questioned by CRN, but an anonymous source said the firm's managing director Peter Hubbard chaired a meeting breaking the news to all sales staff this morning.

CRN understands that sales staff will have their commissions for the past month halved, while back office staff's commission will be cut by the same percentage, but for the past quarter.

According to the source, staff can earn between £1,000 and £5,000 on average on commission, and it is understood the move was met with an angry response.

The source said: "There was a lot of shock. We have all known about the restatement [of accounts] but there was a lot of anger. It's not like a future pay cut when you have the opportunity to look for other work – when you expected to earn that amount and it's gone, it causes a lot of anger."

The source added that sales staff felt angry as they were suffering for the actions of a small minority of staff affected in the accounts probe.

In March, Tech Data announced it was restating some or all of its numbers for the past three years due to accounting improprieties relating to its UK business.

At the end of last month, a law firm launched an investigation on behalf of a group of top investors to ascertain whether or not a number of Tech Data officers and directors had "breached their fiduciary duties".