Andrew Burgess (Budge)

Managing director, JMC IT

Career so far

I’ve worked at JMC IT for 23 years – and I’m only eighth on the longest serving list. I became managing director in 2003 following a management buyout.

What was your first job and were you any good at it?

I was a surly teenager on the fruit and veg counter at Tesco. No, I was lousy at it – it was never likely to last long.

Who was your top teenage pin-up?

Debbie Harry – after seeing the Heart of Glass video.

My colleagues won’t know this about me but…

People have worked here for an average of 11 years so there isn’t much they don’t already know about me. But perhaps they don’t realise that although I head up the marketing function and I’ve become the go-to person for proof-reading at JMC, I failed my English O-Level twice.

What is your favourite snack?

Anything that’s bad for me.

What has been your career high point to date?

Creating a great working environment; one that’s been recognised by The Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work for survey many years running. We are celebrating three staff reaching their 20 years at the company this month alone.

Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly?

It has been a very good year. We’ve had our highest-ever client satisfaction scores, increased staff satisfaction and our profitability is continuing to climb. So much so that we’re re-investing a large amount of money back into the business and benefits for staff.

What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living?

I sell time shares. That way you don’t have to listen to people’s gripes about their IT. If I wasn’t working in the channel I would probably be… a professional mountain bike racer.

What will be the channel’s biggest challenge in 2014?

Although the cloud presents a wealth of opportunity for VARs, it could savage cash flow and profitability if providers just run with the hype and don’t think carefully about their business models.