Midwich buys two firms and shakes up printer arm
Distributor restructures document solutions division as it announces acquisition of UK broadcast specialist Holdan and New Zealand-based Wired
Distributor Midwich has made a brace of acquisitions - one in the UK and one in New Zealand - as it announced a redesign of its document solutions division.
The newly public distributor announced this morning that it has acquired Glossop-based Holdan, a broadcast, professional video and audiovisual distributor with revenues of £20.6m, as well as small New Zealand distributor Wired.
A restructure of its core print business unit has also been made, to combat sales and purchasing "working against each other", the distributor revealed to CRN.
The redesigned division, will see the brand specialist sales and technical support teams, account management, product management and procurement all come together under new divisional manager Heidi Lucas, where in the past each segment had a separate line manager.
Lucas was previously sales manager for document solutions, and she was given the new role with the aim of bringing the division closer together, which the divisional director Stuart Mizon said he hopes will allow the division to better meet the needs of its vendor and reseller partners.
"I Inherited the division two and a half years ago, and in that time from hearing from vendor partners and customers about what they want and need from a distributor, we got to a point where we had an opportunity to bring that all together and crystallise it to a point where we could restructure to meet some of those needs," he said.
"This is an evolution not a revolution, and it is certainly not restructuring a division that wasn't working. This is a proactive move to take us to a higher level of service that we are offering our customers and vendor partners. We have brought together all the different strands of a business unit under one person. By bringing that all together in one division under one person, hopefully the service we provide to customers is second to none."
The document solutions division covers Midwich's printer services, including solutions from Samsung, Brother, Canon, Kodak, OKI and Lexmark.
Mizon said that the division previously followed a "traditional distribution model" with its separate sections, but that this can lead to issues between the sections.
"The traditional distribution model is to have sales, product management and procurement all in different siloes, normally with different measurements and objectives," he explained. "Quite often they can work against each other, and we do have that in other areas of our business. But document solutions division is probably the most mature in terms of the market that we deal with and our vendors were asking us about how we continue to add value and how we give the best service to our customers."
Lucas added: "Previously having the management separately, we were mostly in line but purchasing and sales sometimes want slightly different things. So for me it was cementing that bond within the team even further. We are unique in the way we work as a division, having all of the sales and business management side working so closely together."
The restructure has also seen Midwich hire Tressa Whitby as vendor and strategic account development manager, a role which Mizon believes is unique in the industry because she will be working with both vendors and resellers to find out what they expect from the distie.
Mizon said that following the restructure, the goal for the division is to be at the forefront of the industry.
"I want to see us really triumph on that value-added message to our vendors and customers. It's going to take a number of months. It's not going to happen overnight. I want to see us being at the forefront of the industry. We want to push forward being the distributor of choice in that industry for both our vendors and customers," he said.
The distributor floated on Aim in May, and reseller partner Printerland's James Kight said that while there is a worry that some disties can change strategy after they float, he has noticed no change in the way Midwich do business with the reseller.
"Midwich has been a great partner for us. When you float on the stock exchange things change; your shareholder base changes and expectations change. We've not noticed anything negative from the flotation. The way we have been managed has been seamless," he said.
"Over the years Midwich has diversified. When we started dealing with them it was mainly laptops and print. They were a real print specialist, then they went on a pretty aggressive acquisition route and have developed and grown. But Midwich has never lost that local feel that Midwich is so great at."
Double swoop
Midwich is acquiring Holdan, which has 35 staff, for a maximum consideration of £7.9m and has bought a 75 per cent stake in the firm.
In a stock exchange announcement, Midwich stated: "As outlined at the time of IPO, the acquisitions of Holdan and Wired are in line with Midwich's strategy to grow operations through a combination of organic development and selective infill acquisitions.
"Holdan fits Midwich's UK and Ireland acquisition criteria as it adds to the Group's growing presence in the broadcast and professional video market sectors. Furthermore, the Holdan acquisition advances the Group's penetration in Europe with circa 18 per cent of Holdan's turnover in the year ended 31 December 2015 derived from sales in mainland Europe. Likewise, Wired provides some additional scale with a complementary offering in New Zealand."