Academia launches commercial arm as it targets £100m sales

Education-focused Apple VAR hires Richard Faucher to spearhead new commercial division

Education sector-focused reseller Academia Technology Group has launched a dedicated commercial division as part of plans to more than double in size to £100m.

The Enfield-based Apple partner has brought in former PC World, Insight, Misco and Computacenter exec Richard Faucher as sales manager for the newly launched Academia for Business unit.

The divisional leader will initially head a team of eight account managers. Academia managing director Mike Bacon told CRN that the intention is to double this number in the next six months, then double it again in the 12 months after that.

"About one third of those will be experienced account managers and two thirds will come through our graduate scheme," he explained.

Bacon added that the goal is to generate £3m in revenue in the commercial division's first year in existence, then to double this figure in year two.

Academia posted group revenue of about £39m in its most recent fiscal year, and the goal is to stretch the top line to £55m in FY14, then upwards to £100m over the next three years. The VAR, which also partners with vendors including Adobe, HP, Toshiba and Microsoft, intends to continue to grow its core education and public sector business, and is forecasting upwards of 20 per cent sales growth this year.

"[Getting to £100m] will be primarily through organic growth, with a couple of strategic acquisitions, but those will be more about enhancing margin," said Bacon. "We could see a strategic acquisition in the app development space."

The Academia boss (pictured) singled out media and finance as potentially fertile markets for the nascent businessl division, which will operate primarily in the SMB and mid-market arenas.

"Our sweet spot is anyone with an Apple network of more than 20 devices, but we are able to compete in the corporate space in terms of pricing," explained Bacon. "We see this as the next logical step for the business. We are the largest Apple reseller in the education sector, and now want to become its largest reseller full stop."