'It has gone astonishingly well' Computacenter CEO Norris as firm opens first New York office

Computacenter moved into the US after acquiring FusionStorm last year

Computacenter's foray into the US market has "gone astonishingly well", according to CEO Mike Norris, who was speaking to CRN from the firm's new New York office.

The UK-based giant made its long-awaited first US acquisition last year, snapping up reseller FusionStorm in a deal worth up to $90m (£69m).

Computacenter has now opened its first office in New York City, giving it three main sales offices in the US, Norris said.

"FusionStorm had an office a couple of blocks from here, but the lease came to an end," he explained.

"They were moving to a new building when we bought them, so the timing was good. It meant that we could deliver the new one in Computacenter colours.

"We had the office out in New Jersey - that has been there a while - and now we have this one.

"We have three main sales offices: here, San Francisco, and just south of LA. They are now all branded as Computacenter.

"This one took a bit longer, because we didn't have the building."

Computacenter's chief commercial officer Kevin James tweeted an image of Mike Norris outside the new office (see below).

Computacenter reported a record year earlier this month, reporting sales of £4.35bn, up 14.7 per cent, to break the £4bn barrier for the first time.

FusionStorm generated £3m of adjusted operating profit in the final quarter of the year.

"The first quarter with FusionStorm, which was Q4, went exceptionally well," Norris added.

"We are satisfied with the Q1 this year, but because Q4 went astonishingly well the expectations are a bit too high.

"But we are pleased and we are enjoying it."

Computacenter also opened a new German office today, with plans to hire 200 employees.