Northamber's AIM switch cleared by shareholders

Shrinking distributor set to relist on Alternative Investment Market on 2 September

Northamber is poised to step down from the main market of the London Stock Exchange and relist on Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in September after receiving shareholder clearance for the move this morning.

The distributor, which has seen revenue tumble in recent years, argued that moving to AIM will cut red tape and provide an environment "more suited to its size".

Shareholders gave the resolution the green light in a general meeting this morning.

Cancellation is expected to occur on 2 September, with admission of its entire issued share capital to trading on AIM occurring on the same day.

Northamber bills itself as the UK's longest-established trade-only IT distributor but has seen sales fall every year, bar one, since 2001, when it was turning over close to £300m.

Insiders tell us the distributor laid off 10 staff on Friday, while its chief executive Peter Hammett has also recently departed the firm, at least temporarily, to save on costs.

According to one current employee of the firm, morale on Northamber's sales floor has dropped in recent weeks following the loss of several of its key vendor contracts. Speaking anonymously, the source claimed that incoming orders had fallen to £100,000 in recent days, well short of the floor target of £300,000.

Northamber had not returned our calls for comment at the time of publication.

In an earlier statement, the distributor said relisting on AIM would offer it greater flexibility, "particularly with regard to corporate transactions".