2 Softcat

Key points

Gross invoiced income: £1.646bn (+16%)

Net profit: 4.6% Staff: 1,475

This feline-monikered reseller moves within a whisker of the Top VARs top spot after growing its ultimate top line by 16 per cent in its year to 31 July 2020.

Softcat's gross invoiced income (GII) - as it now terms revenue under new IFRS 15 accounting standards - hit £1.65bn during the year, putting it just £60m shy of Computacenter's GII. Net profits widened from £68.4m to £75.7m.

The LSE-listed firm's strategy is predicated on "selling more to existing customers and winning new ones", and it did just that in 2020, adding 300 clients and boosting average spend among its 9,500 customers by eight per cent to £24,800. A 15 per cent hike in headcount made during the year reflected the investment in the business, particularly in services, technical and specialist capabilities, it said.

Following a "strong" first half, Softcat had to be content with more muted growth in its COVID-hit third and fourth quarters.

In his results statement, CEO Graeme Watt warned that corporate customers "will continue to be circumspect in their spending over the coming months".