Exertis boss Tim Griffin: 'Moving some operations from the UK to the Netherlands helps us grow faster'

Exertis boss Tim Griffin: 'Moving some operations from the UK to the Netherlands helps us grow faster'

Distie boss says post-Brexit decision to move some supply from the UK to the Netherlands has set it up for long-term growth

Exertis claims that moving some operations from the UK to the Netherlands post-Brexit is helping it to grow "even faster".

The distributor has moved some operations from the UK to the Netherlands in order to better serve its customers in continental Europe following Brexit.

Speaking to CRN, Tim Griffin, MD of Exertis parent DCC Technology said that having expanded supply capability in the Netherlands will enable the distributor to achieve more growth through its customers.

Although he could not give an indication as to the scale of operations that have moved from the UK to the Netherlands, Griffin said that the move was customer driven to provide a continuity of service to its enterprise clients.

"Our enterprise business was a sort of ‘hub and spoke' model out of the UK. Actually now having a geographic footprint in continental Europe is enabling us to grow faster. So that's a bit of a reverse paradox of Brexit, but we're delighted by that," said Griffin.

The MD went on to say that the change should in no way be seen as a move to reduce its UK warehouse operations, claiming that the UK remains a "very strong ambition" for Exertis.

The pandemic, supply chain issues and Brexit have created a cocktail of issues for distribution, Griffin added, claiming that it is often difficult to identify Brexit-related obstacles from other factors.

"It's a little hard to call, given the supply chain challenges that we've got elsewhere. It's very difficult to separate Brexit from the whiplash of the pandemic, and the component shortages. So you've kind of got a really interesting cocktail of things going on and I really couldn't tell you whether or not the proportion of driver shortages, for example, is down to the fact that returning lorries to continental Europe can't do a return from Glasgow to London, or because of the 40,000 people that didn't take their license during the pandemic," he said.

"It is clear that it is something that we continue to navigate."

Griffin spoke to CRN following its mammoth acquisition last week for US Pro AV distributor Almo Corporation.

The acquisition was the largest ever by not only Exertis but also its parent company DCC plc.

Almo has a headcount of 660 staff and brings nine distribution centres and 2.5 million square feet of warehousing space to Exertis' North American business.

Around 40 per cent of Almo's revenues stem from pro AV, Griffin claims, with another 40 per cent coming from appliances and 20 per cent from e-commerce.

The US distributor' $1.3bn turnover in North America and will significantly ramp up Exertis' existing operations in the US.

Exertis broke into the US market in 2018 following its acquisition of another pro-AV distributo called Stampede. It rebranded Stampede to Exertis Pro AV Solutions later that year.

The pro-AV sector has endured a difficult pandemic, with closures to both offices and hospitality venues having an impact on sales for the channel during 2020 and 2021.

Revenues for another AV distributor, Midwich, tumbled by 22 per cent in the first half of 2020 when the pandemic hit in what CEO Stephen Fenby described as "very challenging" times for the sector.

Midwich later mounted a recovery for the rest of 2020 as lockdown restrictions were eased.

Griffin believes that AV will continue to be a growth area for Exertis despite ongoing Covid uncertainty exacerbated by the Omicron variant.

"We're already seeing a bounce back in hospitality refresh cycles from hotels and event locations refreshing their hardware, and we expect crowds to come back," he said.

"Now, inevitably, as we've seen over the last few days, this will come in and out. We called it the porpoise effect in the pandemic; we've just got to take opportunities when they present themselves and when we're able to. That's part of being an agile partner for reseller communities."

Griffin said that Exertis plans to bring together its two pro AV assets in North America, with Almo's pro AV business being rebranded to Exertis Almo Pro AV as part of the combined entity.

"The Almo business in appliances, and e-commerce will stay under the Almo umbrella for the foreseeable. Part of what we buy when we buy these assets is the brand name and we certainly have no intention of destroying that. We want to optimise that."