Nigel Steljes returns to distribution game with Ascentae

Ascentae will distribute disruptive collaborative technology in the UK

Nigel Steljes has launched new distributor Ascentae to focus on "disruptive technology" in the collaborative workplace sector.

Steljes unveiled new vendor Avocor last June, soon after his audiovisual distributor Steljes Ltd went into administration in the wake of changes to its relationship with its principal vendor SMART Technologies.

Avocor also handled the distribution for Nureva - the vendor created by SMART founders David Martin and Nancy Knowlton - but Ascentae has now been set up as an independent distribution entity to handle Nureva's UK distribution.

Speaking to CRN at the Bett show in London, Steljes said that the distributor will focus on specialist products that are "just a little bit more complicated" than those offered by broadline distributors, adding that while the education sector will always be a focus, collaboration products are becoming increasingly popular in the office environment.

"There is a real desire within the channel for resellers to find partnerships like Nureva and Avocor - manufacturers that are bringing a slightly more interesting solution to the marketplace," he said.

"By partnering up with distribution and the manufacturer, the reseller can really hold margin because everyone is adding value - it's a relationship.

"You build a particular solution for a customer and he understands he can't then go out to tender because everyone has built something into the whole thing and that's a very different sale but it's a very positive one."

Ascentae will initially distribute three vendors: Nureva, Evoko and its parent company Smart Media Solutions.

The distributor will be headed by commercial director Jon Knight, who worked at Steljes Ltd in the late 1990s before leaving to set up reseller Smarter Interactive.

"We're looking to use Ascentae as our UK distribution company to build a channel initially for both of those manufacturers," Knight said.

"We're very much focused on trying to help resellers be profitable and have a level of differentiation with some of the products and services we're looking to promote.

"I was running my own reseller for 13 years. I know the challenge resellers face in trying to find sustainable business models so things like subscription services, for example, are part of the Nureva platform. Recurring profitability is very important but also the ability to try to offer different types of products and services to what has become bog-standard technology."

Ascentae will operate separately from Avocor but will initially share the Avocor premises in Camberley, where it is looking to recruit around eight members of staff to begin with.

Free from SMART

Steljes explained that Avocor and Ascentae have enabled him to focus on more disruptive products, after becoming frustrated with SMART Technologies while Steljes Ltd was still in business.

"[During] the last few years with SMART the relationship with Steljes was very challenging," he said.

"There were deep frustrations of wanting to do things differently and being very much handcuffed into a particular way which in the end just fell apart," he said.

"It wasn't a surprise really when this lid was lifted off and we were able to go out and do Avocor, design a product ourselves that we felt suited the market and then work with our friends and the relationships that we've had."

For its part, SMART - by far and away Steljes' largest creditor when it collapsed - claimed last summer that it lost ground in the UK because it wasn't getting sufficient focus from Steljes in the final months of their relationship. It has since moved to a direct touch model for UK support.

Nancy Knowlton, founder of Nureva, told CRN that the success of her partnership with Steljes from her time at SMART meant that no other parties were considered when looking for a UK distribution partner.

"When Steljes was the distributor for SMART we had phenomenal success," she said.

"I will go further and say that what Steljes was able to do for our product here in the UK actually spread out around the world. That was the fermenting of a virus that spread globally, so we've seen what a disciplined distributor can do for the product.

"It's not possible to go to a broadline distributor that is really only focused on time and place; you have to work with the product."

Knowlton added that Nureva is looking to build its channel in the UK and currently works with Smarter Interactive and Rapid Technologies.

"From a channel perspective we find we're beginning to engage resellers that haven't been involved in audio before and they're now able to see themselves taking an audio product to the market so they don't have to invest massively in technical expertise," she said.

"They're certainly going to have to develop the knowledge of competitive products and a base level of knowledge around audioconferencing, but it puts them into a marketplace where they can expand their customer base and bring in their other product offerings. It's no longer the domain of an audio expert."