Sharp boss on emulating UK IT services arm in Europe through M&A

Stuart Sykes told CRN the business has seen a 'shift in revenues' further away from print and into different technologies like IT services

Sharp has its sights set on emulating its UK IT service business in the rest of Europe through acquisitions, according to its MD.

Stuart Sykes labelled the move a "priority", with the print vendor looking to create a "bedrock" of a European IT service business.

It comes as the business has seen a "shift in revenues" further away from print and into different technologies like IT services.

Back in 2019 the company started to look at acquiring businesses in the IT space, opting to strike a deal with MSP Complete IT.

And in 2021 the company announced the formation of a new European IT Services division following the acquisition of Swiss company ITpoint.

Sykes says that organically and through acquisition, the next plan is to "have a pan-European IT service offering like we have in the UK".

"That is the priority," he said.

"The priority isn't in the UK acquisition market, it's in the European acquisition market.

"When that's done and there's a bedrock of a European IT service business, then we can have another look about what's next for us in the UK."

Sykes says the shift away from focussing on print came as "many" resellers came out of the pandemic "with a real urgency and desire to change their businesses into more than just print".

"Because the print sector was so heavily affected through the pandemic, there's been a change of mindset," he said.

"We believe in our resellers that are much more open to these wider technologies and wider products and services to data for their clients, which has meant that we're in great conversations with many of them in terms of how we help them move forward."

Sharp also created a new partner programme, geared around identifying with resellers what they want to do over the next few years.

"Once we can sit down with them and create a roadmap for what they want for their business, we can put them into the relative place in our partner programme that we can work with them in the best way with the right resources and the right investments," Sykes said.

He added Sharp would focus on organisations that are "committed to change when we talk about that broader portfolio and diversifying their businesses"

"We want ones that are committed to doing that, and then we'll be committed to that," he said.

"So it's a relatively small number of dedicated, committed partners that we'd like to deal with."