Total nabs channel veteran Sahota to lead City assault

Fast-growing reseller predicts new London digs will become its chief sales engine as ex-Misco man joins as capital leader

Channel veteran Bob Sahota has been appointed to lead ambitious VAR Total Computer Networks' (TCN) sales charge into the London market with its new City office.

The reseller opened the doors on a new location near Liverpool Street and has now recruited Sahota as regional sales manager. He arrives from reseller Zones where he has been employed since last summer. Sahota has also spent more than 11 years with Misco across two spells with the firm, according to his LinkedIn profile.

TCN sales director Kieran O'Connor claimed the new recruit was the right man to expand the Lenovo, Citrix, Dell and HP partner's footprint in the capital.

"Bob has bags of experience, and he is an inspirational guy that salespeople really want to work with," he said. "I think London will, in time, outgrow our head office in Kettering. We see London becoming a big base for us."

Total has previously asserted its intent for the City office to deliver £5m to its fast-growing top line during its first 12 months. In the 2013 calendar year the VAR increased its sales by more than 50 per cent to £30.5m, with its two-year-old northern office in Manchester also helping to expand turnover.

The company is now fostering a greater focus on the services space, with Citrix singled out by O'Connor as a key partner. The new office in the capital will be staffed by a mix of sales people from various backgrounds, he revealed, with the plan being to bring 16 people on board in the next couple of months.

"Our services division has grown significantly and we have a real focus on device management and security, and virtual desktops," he said. "We will be focusing on more of that in London and will be recruiting not just sales guys, but services specialists as well.

"It will also be about getting the traditional sales guys to open their customer base to new services. The challenge for us in London is not finding people, it is getting the right mix. We are a reseller, and we don't want to turn our back on what's given us growth."