CRN Top VARs 2014 - tier-two players drive stellar year

Resellers just outside the leading pack show big growth as top 100 increases sales by double digits

Tier-two players have been the major growth engine as the UK channel's 100 most significant players have enjoyed a stellar year.

CRN Top VARs 2014 - including a rundown of the 100 largest UK resellers by revenue - is published on Monday, and our research has found that the collective turnover of the leading century compared with last year's list has grown 10.1 per cent.

The top 10 show solid growth with their 2013 counterparts, with cumulative revenue expanding 7.9 per cent. Meanwhile, the resellers ranked from 51 to 100 have an aggregate sales tally 10.8 per cent bigger than the bottom half of last year's list.

But the firms placed from 11 to 50 show by far the most rapid expansion, with a collective top line that has risen 13.1 per cent from Top VARs 2013. Between them, the 40 firms just outside the top ten have added an extra £427m to the cumulative turnover of the UK channel's leading ton of resellers.

The cut-off point for making the top 100 is £2m higher this year than it was last time out, while making the top 50 requires an annual sales total £5.8m up on 2013. This year there are 49 companies with revenue of £50m or above, an increase of seven on last year's figure of 42.

Looking at the geographic make-up of the list, we see a slight increase in the tilt towards the south east - despite the number of VARs based in London actually falling. Twenty of this year's top VARs have their base in London - three fewer than last year. But a further 40 are headquartered elsewhere in the south east, an increase of four on the 2013 figure.

Once again, Yorkshire supplies an 11-strong contingent of VARs, while the East Midlands retains nine names on the list. Scotland has doubled its tally, and now has two.

To see a full breakdown of our research findings, and to find out which firms are among the UK channel's 100 biggest players this year, read CRN Top VARs 2014 on Monday. Be sure to get in touch to let us know your thoughts via phone, email, online comments, or on Twitter, using the hashtag #CRNTopVARs.