UK optimism dips despite channel growth - analyst

Context claims distribution market grew 5.1 per cent in H1, but partners fear Brexit troubles

The UK channel is more pessimistic about the state of the market than it was this time last year, according to analyst Context.

The downbeat outlook comes at a time of growth in the channel globally, Context said, with the distribution market up 5.1 per cent year on year in the first half of 2018.

Context's ChannelWatch report, which surveys over 7,000 resellers globally in 14 countries, claims that 10 per cent of respondents expect to be in a worse state next year than they are in now.

The analyst claims that Germany, Poland, Slovakia and the UK were the only countries to be less optimistic about the market than at this time last year.

Adam Simon, managing director at Context, said: "It's reassuring to see the IT channel as a whole in pretty good health as we head into the second half of 2018.

"However, despite the optimism in the market for the coming 12 months, challenges persist - not least in areas such as financing, staff recruitment and retention, GDPR compliance and the threat to distribution posed by e-tailers."

Context claimed that the number of active resellers globally stabilised in H1 (down 0.3 per cent), after seeing a three per cent decline last year.

However, it said that more firms were concerned about their financial health (27 per cent) than last year, with the UK "hit particularly hard" as a result of Brexit-related currency fluctuations.