TechQuarters hires operations director as it looks to double staff in three years

Cloud VAR looking into acquisitions as it aims to quadruple profit in three years

Cloud reseller TechQuarters has hired Mark O'Dell as operations manager as it pushes to grow to 50 employees and quadruple turnover in three years.

O'Dell has joined the VAR from Connect Support Services, where he was managing director of the cloud services provider.

Chris Dunning (pictured above), founder and CEO of TechQuarters, said he worked with O'Dell at Connect when O'Dell was operations director, and said they were "hand in glove" running the business.

He said: "He and I were basically hand in glove running the last business, which was a 150-staff cloud service provider. Between the two of us we grew that business through the roof, so I am absolutely sure we can do the same here at TechQuarters.

"He is fully in charge of the technical division, so he is going to look after all of the support services and all of the project consultants. He is a manager to manage all the managers. He will be in charge of our head of technology, head of project and head of support."

TechQuarters partners with vendors including Microsoft, SonicWall and Kaspersky, offering services including consultancy, backup and data hosting. It launched its cloud academy in 2015, which focuses on training users on Ofifce 365.

Dunning said O'Dell will be a partner in the business, and the two will be the only directors.

"He has a good technical background and a very level head when understanding sales strategy," he explained. "He is able to see the whole of the technical services delivery through himself. He sees it from a technical side rather than sales and marketing. When I am driving the technical team I am doing it from a view of driving the business, but he has a very solid understanding of what makes the technical services division tick."

TechQuarters had a revenue run rate of around £2m in 2015, and Dunning said he sees the business reaching £5m in the next five years. He added that he wants to double his staff from 25 to 50 in the next three years, adding six or seven new members of staff in the next year.

Dunning said the company is currently looking into acquisitions and partnerships, but hasn't "got [its] eye on anyone" yet.

He added: "When you acquire you have to make sure they are the right fit for you. But it is certainly possible. I wouldn't rule it out. The next year is about Mark and I adding to our already burgeoning product set and making sure our teams are fully functioning."