Top VARs: Softcat's Graham Charlton on playing the long game

Known for its people-focused agenda, Marlow-based Softcat is putting its money where its mouth is, as CEO Graham Charlton emphasises

Coming off the back of a year where growth has been hard to come by, Softcat has a lot to show for its efforts in 2023.

In its most recent full year, the reseller and service provider grew revenues by 2.2 per cent, retaining its spot as the largest VAR in the UK, grew headcount by 20 per cent and successfully went through a change of heads.

Reflecting on the smooth leadership transition from former CEO Graeme Watt, Graham Charlton emphasises the company's commitment to evolution rather than stagnation: "Graeme and I worked very effectively together. This was much more about continuity than it was about change."

"But having said that, we recognise that there's an awful lot of change going on in our industry, so we can't stand still as well. So we chose to have a word of the year at Softcat. Every year and this year, it's evolution."

Even the most straightforward leadership change can be disruptive to a business of Softcat's size, however, which is why Charlton is prioritising people and culture in his first year.

"The most important thing to us, though, has been and will always be our people and our culture," he asserts.

"Being recognised last year as the fifth best place to work in the UK, and seeing our customer NPS go up to 62 from 55 - those are really important success measures for us.

"We've also been making some really good progress on inclusion. More than 60 per cent of our board are female that puts us right at the top of the FTSE 250.

"And we set a target for having 35 per cent female workforce, which we hit early. So we've now raised that up to 40 per cent, which we're aiming to get to by the latest of 2030.

Microsoft Copilot, security and public cloud to drive future trajectory

Charlton highlights the company's robust performance across various sectors, including security, Microsoft resale and public cloud services.

"We've seen strong performance across all customer segments," Charlton notes.

"But hardware and networking present challenges, particularly as people have been digesting purchases they've made coming out of the pandemic."

Charlton believes that there is a long tail to the AI and Copilot opportunity and Softcat is taking a measured approach to adoption.

"AI and the impact it's having on infrastructure has been at work in what we do for many years," he explains.

"Starting to become embedded in how networks are managed, how security applications work, and starting to really impact the makeup and capacity needed in datacentres."

Technological investments

In collaboration with its commercial team, led by chief commercial officer Richard Griffith, Softcat aims to deepen relationships with enterprise-grade customers, while maintaining its diversification.

Part of this effort comes in the form of hiring, but behind the scenes, Softcat is investing in a tech revamp as well.

"We have a comprehensive roadmap in place, and as I mentioned, our theme for the year is 'evolution,' which encompasses various aspects, including our internal operating model," Charlton explains.

"We're heavily investing in enhancing our digital and data capabilities. Over the past couple of years, we've implemented a new finance system, upgraded our database architecture, and integrated new layers of technology.

"We're also expanding our data sources by incorporating external data, which wll fuel our analytics platform for modern marketing techniques.

"Last but not least, we're embracing automation and AI tools internally to boost our business operations. For instance, we're currently conducting trials of Copilot within Softcat.

"We've established a robust modern architecture, precisely timed to leverage emerging applications."

Net zero deadlines looming

Sustainability is another core focus area for Softcat under Charlton, with the 2030 target of achieving net zero emissions looming.

"On scope one and two emissions, we're neutral already. We have the target to convert all of our offices to using renewable energy by the end of this year," Charlton says.