Fledgling VAR aims to be 'biggest in the UK'

UK Computer Supplies admits to luring 'cream of the crop' from rival resellers

An emerging reseller has laid out its plans to become the biggest in the UK, claiming that its unique incentive plans are helping it to lure staff from local rivals.

UK Computer Supplies is headquartered in Northampton and has bases in London and Leeds which were opened this year. It was set up five years ago and sells IT hardware, software and cloud services on top of general office supplies. The firm has HP Gold partner status and has recently become a Dell Preferred partner too.

The company, which has about 55 staff across the three sites, is set to post revenues of between £16m and £20m this year, and claims that it could almost quadruple in size within the next five years.

Until now, the reseller claims it has operated "under the radar", but said it is ready to pipe up as it prepares for rocketing growth.

UK Computer Supplies' strategic partner and enterprise sales manager Matt Dann said part of the reason the company has been so successful is its ability to poach staff from rivals with its compensation plans, which it claims are "very, very different" to those offered throughout the industry.

"The ethos of the company is we're a sales company run by salespeople," he said. "Not like most of the resellers which are interested in accountants and the bottom line. We incentivise everyone to sell, from the top to the bottom.

"We've taken the cream of the crop from other resellers – we offer very, very different packages to most of the resellers out there. So I wouldn't say we are aggressive, but we've certainly identified the people who would fit well and we give our salespeople autonomy.

"We don't want to give our secrets away, but what you put in, you get out. We have a defined structure where they can see what their basic can be if they do a certain amount. We set up goals and objectives for everyone so if someone comes into the business and says 'I want to be a manager within two years', we will set up a structure so they can get there. It's very, very, very simple – what you put in, you get out."

Popping up

Dann said that opening new offices could soon be on the cards for his company, which is ready to replicate its success across the country.

"We let [staff] do what they want; it is like a business within a business," he said.

"We give them a lot of tools to do their jobs. We've got a lot of in-house training programmes and we are just about to launch a graduate training scheme with local universities. Our overall aim is to replicate that in as many places in Britain as possible. Once we've got it nailed here, we've got the complete package and we can go to, I don't know, Bristol, identify someone who can manage Bristol, and give them all the tools and training from here. Not a franchise, but kind of like that – a pop-up branch."

Dann said he admired fellow resellers such as CCS Media and Total Computer Networks, but insists his company will succeed through its own unique plan.

"We're our own beast, we're going to do things our way," he said. "We've bucked the trend and started a business when others were going to the wall and we've grown exceptionally well. To be fair, we just want to be the biggest IT reseller in the UK. But we all say that, I suppose! The way we've done it so far is we've grown very, very rapidly, but steadily. I don't want to put a target on it, but in five years we will be – who knows – quadruple the size.

"Organically we've grown very, very quickly but we've been under the radar. So now we've popped our head above the water and said 'hello, we're UK Computers'."