Touchbase UC aims to treble sales after Natilik rebrand

Cisco Gold partner issues war-cry to Dimension Data as it severs ties with other Touchbase companies

Five years after completing an MBO, Cisco Gold partner Touchbase UC has severed all ties with the wider Touchbase group of companies, rebranding as Natilik and launching its own offices in New York and Sydney.

Touchbase's UK management took control of the local business in 2010, with backing from Herald Ventures. But it continued to license the Touchbase name and use Touchbase's US and Australian presence to fulfil some international work.

Talking to CRN, Natalik chief executive Mike Danson said his firm's revenues had tripled to nearly £30m since 2010, adding that the plan is to repeat that feat over the next five years following the name change.

"It's five years since we bought out the UK business and that was a big moment for controlling our destiny - we did everything apart from change the name of the company," he said. "We are triple the size we were back then and it is a logical time to rebrand and deliver our own international experience, rather than working with the other Touchbase companies."

Touchbase UC has built up a base of 140 UK clients, some 80 per cent of which it works with both in the UK and internationally, Danson said.

"We want to ensure we deliver a great experience for them, and we will take responsibility for that going forward," he said.

The name Natilik is inspired by the group of people who helped Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reach the South Pole in 1911.

"The name is something a bit different. We sit between the vendors and the customers so to be seen as a confident guide sums up our ethos as a company," Danson said, adding that he has spent the past three months educating clients about the rebrand.

Headed up by two Touchbase UC veterans, the two new offices will ultimately account for about 20 per cent of Natilik's headcount and value of sales, Danson said.

The rebrand and expansion will mean Touchbase can better pitch itself an alternative to the big global Cisco Gold partners such as Dimension Data, Danson (pictured on the left, with Cisco UK managing director Phil Smith) added.

"Multinational customers want an alternative to the very big global companies and that's what we're going after," he said. "We can offer clients one company and one P&L consistently, which is very different from the very large global integrators. That's not to say the experience we were providing before wasn't good, but we think this will be even better."

Natilik is on course to turn over £30m in its current financial year ending 31 March 2016, Danson said. The firm's heritage is in the collaboration space but 40 per cent of revenues are now drawn from other areas such as security, networking and datacentre, a percentage Danson predicted will grow over the coming years.

"The next five years is about not only retaining our strength in collaboration but becoming an expert in those other technologies," he said.