8 Telent Technology Services

Revenue: £472m (-17%)

Net profit: 1.2% Staff: 2,359

Though not an archetypal VAR, this Warwick-based operator of critical national infrastructure rubs shoulders with many of the top 100 in its capacity as an HPE Platinum partner and provider of cloud, security, networks and managed services.

Telent's revenues plunged by the best part of £100m in its year to 31 March 2021 as its largest customer - BT Openreach - moved to diversify its supply chain. Net profits slid from £19.1m to £5.6m as this - along with cost over-runs on two transport projects - dented the bottom line.

An £11m IT and telecom infrastructure build for a "major Russell Group University" is among the case studies trumpeted on its website.

Covid impact

Despite Covid initially causing delays to "a limited number" of projects, Telent said its status as a critical national infrastructure specialist enabled it to continue delivering services through even the worst of the pandemic. It did not take a single penny from the furlough scheme. It did, however, absorb £2.2m of "Covid-19 costs" relating to PPE procurement, shielding staff and an internally funded furlough scheme.