VARs go COO crazy as they eye aggressive growth

Vohkus and Anglia Business Solutions both appoint new chief operating officers as they look to scale

Two VARs – Vohkus and Anglia Business Solutions – have appointed new COOs as they pursue ambitious growth targets.

Craig Compton, who previously worked as chief financial officer at Kelway, has joined the Vohkus board after a successful 12 months as consultant to the board, and his responsibility will be to guide the board through day-to-day execution of Vohkus' strategic business plan to scale the business to £100m revenue by 2017.

Ritchie Sharma, chief executive of Vohkus, said: "At Vohkus we have carefully assembled a highly skilled and ambitious leadership team who are focused on delivering first-class IT solutions to our clients. Craig has an outstanding track record and we are thrilled to add such a high calibre professional to our board. He brings a wealth of experience and expertise to strengthen our team, and to help us continue to develop the business."

Compton added: "I am delighted to join such a fast-paced, quality organisation as Vohkus and look forward to working with all my colleagues to deliver on our goals."

Separately, Anglia Business Solutions has poached Nikki Scarr from Infor Global Solutions where she managed a large professional services business across EMEA with a turnover of $80m.

Her remit will be to drive Anglia's plan for international expansion by building project delivery and support services.

In a statement, Scarr said: "I see a wonderful growth opportunity in this company and the solutions it offers. The LINKFresh application in particular is a fantastic industry-specific product with a unique position in the food sector. Coming from a large US company that has undergone significant growth, I feel I can use my expertise to make a real impact on this business in its UK, European and US markets."

Anglia group chief executive Robert Frost said: "Following last year's £6m management buyout, I'm confident that Nikki will add value by nurturing our already exceptionally strong management team and helping us achieve our goal of annual revenues of over £20m within the next three years."