'You could not have found a sweeter fit': Q Associates boss on first ever acquisition

Acquisition of Apex Group will expand Q's Microsoft Azure offering, David Cue tells CRN

Lockdown has not prevented Q Associates from completing its maiden acquisition, in a deal founder and MD David Cue has branded a "sweet fit".

Q Associates has snapped up Apex Group, a networking and cloud specialist with which Q has jointly worked on multiple projects in the past.

The duo had been in talks since before COVID-19 hit, and announced their union to staff this morning.

The deal - Q's first since it was founded in 1985 - will add over 25 staff and push revenues towards the £35m mark.

Talking to CRN, Q founder David Cue said that Bracknell-based Apex would complete his firm's professional services offering by adding expertise around Microsoft Azure.

"If ever there was a deal to do, it was this one. You could not find a sweeter fit," he said.

"When most companies acquire another business, they usually have some knowledge of the business. But in this case we had a broad breadth of experience working together. We just gave a Teams update to the entire company, and all the sales people were saying ‘I get this'. In fact, a couple turned up at the office to say ‘this is brilliant'. They're selling services anyway, but when you're talking to a large client about substantial Microsoft services, we weren't particularly well known in that field. But now, suddenly, we are.

"Are we going to acquire again? All I can say is we'll be keeping our eyes open."

The deal pushes infrastructure services and data management specialist Q's services-to-product resale mix beyond the 50 per cent marker, according to the Newbury-based outfit.

"We're very strong in the implementation and delivery of technology and networking products, but clearly we didn't have the same breadth of skills around the modern workplace and Microsoft," Cue explained.

Apex managing director Gerry Allan stressed that all 27 of Apex's staff have become Q employees as of today.

"We are a smaller company that's growing rapidly and were hitting those growing pains of having to put in finance, HR departments," he said.

"Also, we're a very technical-led company and had been struggling with the sales and marketing piece. To be able to plug into Q, which is much more mature, is a big plus."