BT to drop eight disties and go it alone with Nimans on hardware

Westcoast and Incom confirm they are losing BT consumer hardware deal, and CRN understands six others have also been chopped

BT is parting ways with eight of its nine consumer hardware distributors, leaving Nimans as its sole distie, CRN understands.

The telecoms giant has confirmed that from 1 October, Nimans will become its sole distributor of BT-branded consumer telephones and baby monitors.

Westcoast and Incom have confirmed to CRN that they are parting ways with BT, and CRN understands that Exertis UK, Trust Distribution, RS Components, Pik-A-Pak, NB Data and Discount Communications Ltd are also being dropped.

Westcoast's managing director Alex Tatham confirmed that BT had notified the distributor of its plans to remove it from the line-up, but added that negotiations are still under way.

"We have been given notice and we are currently working with our customers and [deciding] how best to serve [them] for this product that we have been distributing for a long time," he said.

A BT spokesperson said: "From 1 October Nimans will become the exclusive distributor of BT-branded consumer telephones and baby monitors to third-party resellers in the UK.

"No business products or non-BT branded products are part of this agreement as we do not sell anything from the BT Business portfolio through this channel and it only applies to retailers and online resellers where BT doesn't have a direct supply relationship with the reseller. This will improve the efficiency of our operations and maximise the return on the resources we invest in this area."