Softcat pondering first 'baby step' outside UK market

CEO Martin Hellawell reveals the firm is exploring the possibility of opening an Irish office

Softcat's CEO says the UK reseller is examining whether to take its "first baby step towards the international market" by opening an office in Ireland.

The London-listed reseller released its half-year results this morning, which showed revenues climbing 29 per cent year on year to £378.5m, above expectations.

In an interview with CRN following the results, which can be read in full here, Hellawell said that although Softcat currently has no plans to expand outside its home market, the prospect of moving into Ireland has been broached.

He also said one of the handful of acquisition targets Softcat has spoken to in recent months was based overseas, although he added that none of these talks has resulted in even a second meeting.

Hellawell said the Marlow-based firm, which now has nearly 1,100 staff in the UK, would "love to have a crack at Ireland".

"We need to understand a bit more about that market and look into it in a deeper way," he said. "More importantly, I need to have a team of people from Softcat who are ready and the right people to go and set up an Irish office, which I don't have today. So that would be a baby step towards the international front.

"We keep doing more international business with our international partners, and that's going really well. And out of the eight [acquisition targets] we have spoken to, one was an overseas organisation and one was a UK organisation with overseas operations. It's something we are in the early stages of looking at, but there is no plan."