XMA takes on bulk of Misco Weybridge staff

Nottingham-based reseller reveals it decided against a wider purchase of Misco's assets two weeks ago, as it rehouses 18 of its fallen rival's corporate sales staff

XMA has pressed fast-forward on its corporate growth plans by taking on the bulk of fallen rival Misco's former Weybridge staff.

As of today, XMA has signed contracts with 18 former Misco corporate sales staff who were left stranded when Misco UK went into administration last Thursday. That number is set to rise to 20.

They are being rehoused at XMA's nearby Chertsey service office, which XMA launched recently as part of a corporate growth push under former Misco sales director Tony Brooker.

XMA CEO Lee Hemani said that taking on Weybridge as a team, rather than cherry-picking individual staff, sent the right message and would preserve continuity of service for customers and key vendors such as HP Inc and HPE.

Three hundred Misco staff lost their jobs last week when the firm entered administration and ceased trading in what was the biggest channel bankruptcy since 2e2.

"I'll be there today to introduce myself to the new staff as part of the induction programme," Hemani (pictured) told CRN. "I want to give them some truths. I want to make sure that they, like everyone else in XMA, has access to the board, and an understanding of our structure, the financial quality of the business, and of the resources they have at their disposal."

Last-ditch attempts to sell Misco's assets to US reseller PCM fell through last Wednesday, and Hemani confirmed that XMA had decided against a deal of this nature a week before.

"At XMA we are acquisitive and we have been talking to a number of UK technology businesses," he said. "Yes, we had a conversation with Misco, but on balance we felt that there were too many distractions in the business as a whole to do a purchase of assets -or whatever you want to call it.

"We didn't have an appetite to have another facility in Wellingborough, so we focused our attention on what was right for us. It's worked quite well as [Misco Weybridge] worked predominantly in the corporate space, which is a big investment growth for us, and we understood the potential. We had four or five days to do something and thought we'd take the plunge because it felt like the right thing to do."

About three quarters of XMA's projected 2017 sales of £400m will come from its public sector stronghold, Hemani said.

The proportion generated by corporate sales is likely to rise next year as XMA builds its Chertsey team.

The addition of Misco's Weybridge team, who focused on accounts with between 100 and 2,500 heads, will swell the headcount in Chertsey to about 25. Most of the new recruits worked with former Misco sales director Brooker, who recently joined XMA as corporate sales director.

"I don't like to see organisations go to the wall in the way that Misco did, but we are always looking for good people," Hemani said, adding that XMA will consider moving into a bigger Chertsey office next year.