Reseller Storm kicks off recruitment drive as it eyes £80m mark

Firm has 'open cheque book', but only wants quality staff

Reseller Storm Technologies has retained a recruiter to help it snap up new sales staff as it targets the £80m sales barrier this year.

The Watford-based reseller currently has 120 staff, 50 of whom work in sales, and had turnover in 2015 of £72m, up from £62m the year before.

The firm is on track to meet its goal of £80m sales this year, and is looking to swell its ranks as a result.

Channel recruiter Robertson Sumner has been retained to increase the company's headcount, but Storm sales director Trevor Nickolls stressed that quality is the most important thing, not quantity.

He added that although the company is looking for 10 graduate staff this year, he is keen to maintain a strong army of account managers too.

"I want to keep supplementing good account managers so you're not just relying on graduates - it is a good mix," he said. "Graduates are the future but I've got to keep bringing in the business. I've been consistently going out looking for account managers, but I've been consistently let down by the calibre I've been offered. There are a lot of resellers out there who take on anyone and then they drift around the bottom of the market. I'm picky about who I take on.

"I'll take five, I'll take 10, I'll take 15. It's an open cheque book, but I will only take quality. But as we know, everyone wants them. It's a really, really tough market."

Nickolls said his mantra is to "keep things simple", adding that sales staff are not restricted on the geographic location or market sector of a customer, and that the firm works with a range of vendors.

"In sales, our graduates get paid the same as our top salespeople - the same commission structure," he said. "When we went through the recession and people were suffering, we were fine because I've got account managers dealing with Walt Disney and Vodafone, but also the two-man band down the road. I had one guy come to me who could only deal with food manufacturers in Belfast. Here anyone can deal with any vertical and any geography. Any business is business."