Academia bets on B2B for future growth as sales soar

Reseller smashes the £40m sales mark

Reseller Academia expects less of its revenues to come from the education sector in the coming year as it bets on its commercial arm for rapid growth.

For its latest financial year, which ended in June, turnover at the reseller shot up almost 30 per cent annually to £44m. It expects to repeat its 30 per cent sales hike in its coming year, which would take its top line towards £60m – a target it claims to be "very optimistic" about reaching.

A year ago, the firm launched a commercial division in a bid to meet its longer-term goal of becoming a £100m firm.

Its public sector director Mark McCormack said things within the new unit are going well and it is set for big things this year.

"The commercial team is coming from a standing start so its growth spurt will be bigger," he said, suggesting growth in the unit could be double that of Academia's as a whole.

Two years ago, about 95 per cent of the reseller's business came from the education sector, a figure which stands at just 60 per cent today and will shrink even further next year.

"We're not shrinking [our focus on] education," he added. "We will continue to do what we're doing and will grow that, but the split of revenue and the proportion of the pie will even out into the commercial and charitable sector."

The firm's headcount currently stands at 100 but by Christmas it will be closer to 110. The new hires – which will be both business and tech focused – will be based in a handful of new satellite branches the firm plans to open in Belfast, Nottingham and Manchester.

Last year the firm snapped up companies operating in the technical and training space and McCormack said future acquisitions could be on the cards in the coming months too.

"We're going to remain open minded about further acquisitions," he said. "If it fast-tracks our growth plans, we are on the lookout."

He added that investing in services will be another key driver of organic growth for Academia.

"In the education sector, we've found it is becoming harder to compete with just tin," he said. "Offering services and a margin wrap built in – that's where we're going."