Ingram raises credit limits for 1,500 UK resellers

Distributor 'playing its part to ease pain' of Brexit with 30 per cent increase in credit at an aggregate level, with some resellers seeing a three- or four-fold increase

Ingram Micro has boosted credit limits and terms for 1,500 of its UK resellers in a move it claims could provide them with a post-Brexit boost.

The broadliner this morning raised credit limits by an aggregate of 30 per cent for 1,500 of its SMB customers. Payment terms for these customers have also been extended by an average of 15 days, it said.

Tony McMurray, finance director at Ingram UK and Ireland, told CRN that the credit extension was neither a reaction to Brexit nor the arrival of a new UK CEO, but argued it comes at an opportune time.

"This has been in the works for a number of months and was always going to be implemented," he said.

"We recognise some customers are having some challenges around Brexit, due to a slowdown in investment, but hopefully we're playing our part to ease their pain with these credit limit and term changes."

Some SMB customers will have seen three- or four-fold rises in their credit limit under the move, while others have been switched from a cash-with-order to a credit-limit relationship, McMurray said.

He said the credit extension is the latest in a number of moves designed to make Ingram easier to do business with in the UK.

McMurray rejected the contention that distribution has by and large taken a more cautious approach to credit since the market downturn in 2007.

"As a whole, I'd probably say the distribution landscape is taking greater own-risk positions," he said.

Onboarding with Ingram has been cut from a week to 48 hours after its new-accounts team assumed control over the process and it was moved entirely online, McMurray said. A new website was recently completed and Ingram is currently trialling a new phone system designed to make it more responsive, he added.

"We are trialling CTI, which is linked to the CRM. If a sales manager picks up the phone, automatically it would link to the screens and pull up the information related to that customer," he said. "We are trying to make it easier to do business with Ingram, so there isn't any delay in the salesperson being able to talk through the account with the individual."