Global ITAD brings forward launch of UK plant in wake of Arrow's exit

Procurri's EMEA boss talks to CRN about filling the void left by Arrow and opening its first 'true' asset disposition facility in the UK

Global IT asset disposition (ITAD) specialist Procurri has brought forward the launch of its new facility in Warrington by a month in the wake of Arrow's exit from the space.

Mat Jordan, Procurri's head of EMEA, told CRN that the new facility is the company's first "true" ITAD plant in the UK and expects it to be up and running on 1 September.

"Procurri has been working in ITAD for 20 years and we've always historically majored around used hardware," he explained.

"As it's become more formally recognised as an ITAD play, we look to build out and encompass that slightly more. So I guess you could say this is our first true ITAD plant [in the UK] - it has been designed to accommodate the volume of ITAD.

"The facility enables us to take something in the region of 250 to 300 pallets simultaneously of data-bearing assets. I think it will probably give us one of the most significant and secure facilities in the UK - maybe even in Europe."

Computacenter recently bought Arrow's ITAD unit in the UK, the majority of which comprised RDC, which the services outfit sold to Arrow for £56m in 2015.

Jordan said he was "delighted" that Computacenter managed to solve its own problems, but that Arrow's exit from the market still left a "natural void" for other ITAD companies to fill.

"It left some questions about what the solution was for those that used Arrow's solution historically," he said.

"That doesn't just necessarily reflect around Computacenter; there are a lot of other people for whom Arrow was delivering secure end-of-life disposal of assets. So while Computacenter might have resolved that immediate problem, there'll be others out there who are panicking and looking for a solution."

Procurri bills itself as a channel-focused company that doesn't cater to end users, and counts Dell, HP and HPE among its partners.

It acquired UK-based IT refurbishment specialist Tinglobal in 2015, which allowed it to establish a footprint not just in this region, but also in Europe.

Since then it has continued to acquire in EMEA and grow organically, with new German offices set to open in the coming weeks.

Jordan added that the UK market contributes around 50 per cent to Procurri's overall European business.

Its revenue grew 15 per cent year on year to $63.3m for the quarter ending 30 June 2019, and its high-margin Lifecycle Solutions segment, which houses its ITAD unit, has become a focus of the company's growth.

"I'm sure many businesses that have a professional smart offering within the ITAD space will pick up those revenues [left by Arrow] and we will see handsome organic growth as a result of it over the next two to three years," Jordan stated.

"Procurri has the added benefit of also having a very strong trading arm; we're able to maximise resale value for assets rather than see them go to scrap or waste and we can supplement parts into either our maintenance offering or through our trading outlets.

"So we have a good all-around life cycle solution and this all sits very neatly as part of our ecosystem."

As the green economy and corporate social responsibility continue to take hold among channel companies, Jordan said that ITAD will shed its "Cinderella" reputation and become an integral part of organisational operations.

"At the moment it's all very new and as things evolve, it will become part of that business-as-usual model," he explained.

"The disposable of IT assets was always the Cinderella relation of the IT space.

"You hear a lot of noise and historically there's been a lot of marketing that has gone into selling new products and the benefits and the advances of how new products work, but there has always been very little focus around its disposal and the ability to reuse that tech.

"I think over time it will normalise as part of a standard business function that they have to have a secure authorised partner that is able to work with corporates to securely and discreetly dispose of and manage end-of-life, surplus-to-requirement assets."