Misco UK boss Brooker resigns - sources

Tony Brooker announced his decision to leave the business in sales meeting this morning, according to sources

Misco's UK boss, Tony Brooker, has resigned, according to multiple sources.

Brooker joined Misco as UK executive vice president last August to link up with former colleague Simon Taylor, Misco's European boss, with whom he had previously worked at rival Insight.

Although Misco was unavailable to comment, according to one source Brooker made the announcement in a sales meeting this morning and cited personal reasons for his decision to quit, adding that he will leave next February.

Another industry insider who heard the news said he understood why Brooker had chosen to move on after 14 months at the giant reseller, which turned over £285.7m in the UK in its last reported financial year.

"I believe that Tony joined to help Simon [Taylor] bring in a management team, launch a Watford office and help attract talent," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

"To that end, he has achieved that goal and probably decided that it was time to move on to the next project. Misco faces some challenges and is in the midst of a turnaround, and I suspect stronger foundations have been laid to build a stronger sales organisation."

Brooker has worked at a string of established UK VARs including SCC, Cancom, Logicalis and Insight.

In August Systemax, Misco's parent company, reported a $2.2m (£1.7m) loss for the three months ending 30 June, which CEO Richard Leeds attributed to the performances of the UK and Italian arms of the business.

In an interview with CRN last week, Taylor stressed that Misco is keen to continue ramping up its UK headcount as he talked through his efforts to push into higher-margin solution sales.