Fast-growing VAR Millennium eyes £15m club
Reseller appoints new head of retail and corporate as it diversifies for growth
Reseller Millennium Business Systems has appointed a new head of corporate and retail, and is planning a new intake of sales staff, as it looks to continue its growth and diversify its customer base.
The firm has welcomed in Carl Bastin, who joins from AV specialist Project Audio Visual, where he spent four years in sales roles.
Millennium's director, James Baxter, told CRN that Bastin's appointment marks the start of the company's diversification, but he insisted that core markets, such as public sector, will remain crucial to the company as it grows.
"It's about recognising that in this diverse market, we are going to have to diversify," he said.
"At the end of the day, if you put all of your eggs in one basket, you're going to end up with egg on your face eventually aren't you? It's about protection more than anything else. We're not just an audiovisual firm, we're an IT firm. Our biggest growth this year has come from PCs and we manufacture a lot of PCs and we've won contracts with key vendors. It's an interesting one, but I am not interested in [focusing on] one place and one place only."
At the moment, the firm is one year into its long-term plan, which saw the firm aim for £8m sales this year. Next year, due to an intake of up to 13 sales staff, the firm hopes to smash the £13m mark and by 2018, it hopes another batch of sales staff will see it surpass £15m or even £16m in sales.
Baxter said that although his company focuses on PCs and hardware, securing extra margin on deals is essential.
"We're not just a tin seller and we add services on and we add a lot of extras that put us into a different category. I'm not going to go and sell something for two or three per cent, there is no worth to it. I couldn't care if turnover was £1m or £2m - if we were making profit I would be happy with that. It's all about profitability and giving back to people in the business here - it's those that make the business, not the fat cats in the directors' seats."