Julian Stafford

Managing director, Midshire Business Systems

What is your greatest career move to date?
Leaving the family bakery business at the age of 25 to sell professional printing equipment, having never sold more than a pie and knowing nothing about the print industry. This was the first of two times in my life I've jumped out of the plane with no parachute.

What is top of your bucket list?
Going on a grand tour of Europe with my beautiful wife of 30 years Judy in an Aston Martin with no return date, no kids, no mobile phone and no emails.

What has changed most since you started working in the channel?
The cloud is by far the biggest single development. The speed of change is staggering. The opportunities for growth through technology have never been greater. It's a really exciting time to be
in this business.

How do you think Brexit is going to affect the channel?
While we will undoubtedly all have to deal with some short-term uncertainty and pressure on pricing for goods coming into the UK, I feel very optimistic that in the medium and long term the country and the business community in general will benefit massively from Brexit.

What is your least favourite task during the working day?
Dealing with negative people. There's nothing worse. If you were an animal, what would you be? A tortoise. I have kept moving forward every day for many years although sometimes really slowly! I've not had the chance of a good hibernation yet, though.

If you won the big one on EuroMillions, what would you do? See my bucket list.

What is your worst habit?
You'd need to ask my wife that.

How has 2016 been for you?
Fantastic. Midshire continued to achieve double-digit growth. Our people continue to develop and I'm so proud of all of them. At home my second granddaughter Louisa was born so it was a really special year on that front as well. Good all round. I'm an incredibly lucky man.

If you didn't work in the IT channel, what would be your dream career?
A member of the Rolling Stones. Or central midfielder in the title-winning Liverpool team. The reason's obvious!

What major issues will the channel face in 2017?
It will be an amazingly exciting year. Brexit will be an issue throughout 2017 just due to sheer uncertainty; we need to be brave and positive. It will turn out to be the best decision the country ever made. The other potential major issue will be those that don't embrace change. Cloud and hosted solutions are going to change the way we work forever. Some companies and individuals are reluctant to change and they will be left behind. To all those people who doubt the cloud and the positive effect it can have on your business, tell me the last time you rented or bought a video.

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• Reseller
• A-list 2017(b)