RISING STARS: NEW HORIZONS - How seven high-performing resellers and MSPs are gearing up for post-Covid growth - M-Tech Systems
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RISING STARS:
NEW HORIZONS
How seven high-performing resellers and
In association with
MSPs are gearing up for post-Covid growth
Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
C O N T E N T S
4
Pocket
6
“The pandemic
has increased
8 “It’s going to be
a challenging
year, but we are
10
“We gambled that
our competitors
The best is yet to come
rockets: Top the pace of optimistic” would blink” At Agilitas, we are proud to sponsor the coveted 12 months will remain, we are looking at a more
100 vs 101 change” Francesca Lukes, Stuart Fenton, CRN Rising Stars 2021 report –in what has been the hybrid approach to our workplaces and physical
to 350 Steve Brown, Highlander Wanstor QUANTIQ
year nobody expected. This year’s report spotlights meetings being replaced with video calls going
12 What will the 20 “We’re confident
22 “By the end of 24 “We have
some of the UK’s most ambitious, fastest growing forward in the name of cost and time efficiency.
successful and leading resellers and MSPs who have been Looking ahead, there is no doubt that it will
enough to say 2021 we aim to ambitious plans
IT solution have completed at accelerating transformation in their businesses be the channel firms who have streamlined their
we’ve surpassed to achieve during the pandemic. operation and embraced change who will continue
provider of £100m this year” least two strategic £45m turnover”
the future David Bentley, acquisitions” Lisa Thornton, As anybody operating in the UK channel will to succeed as restrictions ease. This will put more
look like? Solutionize Global Martin Lulham, M-Tech Lima Networks know, the market is growing more and more emphasis on productivity through automation and
competitive with every passing year - something ultimately the overall customer experience. There is
26 “We are considering
taking on additional
28 30 37 that is illustrated clearly by the outstanding calibre also seismic change on its way, with ‘sustainability’
office space to of the ‘rising stars’ celebrated in this report. Not expected to be high on the agenda for all businesses.
house all our new only does it demonstrate their growing capabilities, As a result, we will see an increase in local supply
recruits” The major
channel M&A moves Five projects that epitomise The UK’s fastest-growing it also recognises their ability to respond and adapt chains, government regulation and environmental
Stuart Wohlman, to the changing world around them. targets, piling more pressure onto the channel
Tangible Benefit of the last 12 months the post-Covid world resellers and MSPs
The pandemic has forced all front-line tech to update their green and sustainable policies to
providers to fundamentally rethink what technology remain relevant.
Welcome to Rising Stars 2021 they provide in response to how their end clients
are consuming it.
It is evident from the businesses recognised
in this report that there are many factors behind
It will be clear from reading this report, and the
fascinating profiles of the fast-growing businesses
within it, that even the likes of a global pandemic
is not enough to break the stride of a resilient
How have some of the their latest years and boast average net profit margins success and growth; with one being resilience. Many UK channel sector. Resellers and MSPs could
UK’s most ambitious, of 7.8 per cent – well above the 2.5 per cent VAR 350 organisations have found that this enables a positive be forgiven for battening down the hatches and
fastest-growing and most average. Many continue to hire aggressively even as approach to business, which in turn enables better becoming more insular since lockdown struck.
profitable resellers and the UK hurtles towards a double-dip recession. problem-solving and helps to maintain motivation, However, several of this year’s Rising Stars have
MSPs been transforming These high-growth, high-profit firms are refusing which is particularly important during a time of so done the opposite, instead seeing the period as a
their businesses during to pull in their horns, knowing that the wave of much change. golden opportunity to upgrade their systems and
the pandemic? digital transformation sparked by the pandemic could At Agilitas, we too have looked to be resilient processes and place bets that may well continue to
This question forms bring rich rewards for ambitious tech providers. and during Covid accelerated our plans to update pay off long after social distancing measures ease.
the crux of CRN Rising Stars 2021, which profiles This ‘second wave of digital transformation’ – as our channel services. For example, There is no doubt that the best is yet to come for
seven high-performance businesses from CRN’s Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently branded it – is upgrading our innovative those of us who have shown true resilience.
recent VAR 350. seeing courts adopt remote jury technology, the NHS AssureMeNow tool to help our
How have these seven companies changed how roll out chatbots, businesses adopt hybrid working partners continue to do business ■ Shaun Lynn is CEO of Agilitas
they operate since Covid struck, and do they expect and schools implement remote learning. through Covid-19 with the
these changes to stick? How have they adapted, We review some of the case studies the pandemic ability to ‘self-serve’ quotes.
survived, and even thrived during the last 11 months? has thrown up for the channel in a separate section We have also experienced
How are they gearing up for post-Covid growth, and on page 30. many partners increasing their
where do they see the biggest growth opportunities? Any business owner could be forgiven for reliance on our online
Over the following pages, we will discover becoming more insular during the pandemic. service portal
the answers to these posers directly from senior But many of the firms in this report expect to not ‘Partnership’ to It will be clear from reading this
management from the seven companies themselves, only emerge from the pandemic still growing, but enable them to
which were handpicked based on their high growth with a healthier business and slicker operating model react quickly report, and the fascinating profiles
and industry-leading profits. than before it began. and efficiently of the fast-growing businesses
All seven of this year’s Rising Stars sat outside We hope that this report offers some insight into to customer
the top 100 of CRN’s VAR 350 2021, but none lack business resilience in the channel and possible routes fault call
within it, that even the likes of a
ambition. They range from Dell partner that’s eyeing to post-Covid growth for resellers and MSPs of all requests. global pandemic is not enough to
£100m in revenues, to a London-based Microsoft shapes and sizes. Though break the stride of a resilient UK
Dynamics specialist aiming to be a European leader some of the
in its space. ■ Doug Woodburn is group editor of CRN and adaptations channel sector.
Our septet grew by an average of 109 per cent in Channel Partner Insight from the last
2 3
Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
Pocket rockets
This year’s Rising Stars are all ranked between 101 and 350 in the CRN VAR 350. Despite their
Meet the Rising Stars
smaller stature, these 250 firms are significantly more profitable than their top 100 counterparts
Most profitable firms: 101-350 vs Top 100 Revenues Solutionize Global (see p20)
Location: Wakefield
Microtech Group £17.2bn
25.2%
£15.9bn Founded: 2009
Network Telecom 21.5%
Revenues: £41.9m
Invenio Business Solutions 20.4% Top 100
101-350
SAGlobal Europe 18.0%
Highlander (see p6)
Bistech Group 17.9% 8% YoY Location: Sheffield
6.9% YoY Founded: 1995
Managed247 17.4%
Lima Networks (see p24) Revenues: £31.8m
£4.7bn£4.4bn
£ £
Pinnacle 16.1% Location: Salford
Avanade 15.4% Founded: 1997
Most Previous Most Previous Revenues: £16.3m
Columbus 15.0% recent year recent year
year year
Adarma 14.8%
101-350 Tangible Benefit (see p26)
BCN Group 14.3%
Top 100 Median net profit margins Location: London
Solid Solutions 13.7% Founded: 1997
Node4 12.7% 1.9% 3.0% Revenues: £42.1m
2.0%
£ Top 100 £ 3.3%
£
101-350 £
ANS 12.3%
Focus Group 10.3% Most Previous Most Previous
recent year recent year QUANTIQ (see p10)
year year
Version 1 8.6% Location: London
Printerland 8.5%
Founded: 2013
Revenues: £23.8m
RM 8.5% Mean gross profit margins 101-350
OneCom 8.5% 34.4% 33.9%
Itelligence 8.0% Top 100
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 26.4% 26.0%
Nine of the VAR 350’s ten most profitable firms* –
relatively speaking – sit below the top 100, with Microsoft
£
partner Avanade the only top 100 firm to break the
stranglehold. Only five firms in the top 100 made a double-
digit net profit margin in their latest years, compared with Wanstor (see p8)
26 of those ranked 101st to 350th. Location: London M-Tech (see p22)
Founded: 2002 Location: Eastbourne
Most Previous Most Previous
*Firms ranked based on net profit margins in their latest filed annual recent year recent year Revenues: £14.9m Founded: 2002
accounts (as of 15 January 2021) year year
Revenues: £5.1m
4 5
Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
Why does Highlander style itself on its website customers. They were asking us ‘how do you run
as ‘a bunch of Yorkshire lads and lasses that your jobs, warehousing, financials etc’, and we’d just
love IT’? put Netsuite in and got it working really well.
The pandemic has When I first joined 21 years ago, a typical sales
person would sell the technology or solution that
made the most margin possible, and then the poor
Are you anticipating growth this year?
In our fiscal 2019 [ending 31 August], we had
increased the pace
field engineer would pick up the boxes and try to a number of significant jobs drop, so that will
make it work. probably smooth back out. But in terms of the profit
We went totally the other way and put the percentage – when you put the pandemic into it
technical people at the front of the sale. plus the demand for IT – I feel we’ll increase on that
of change I know the industry is going that way now, but we
did it right back at the start. If we’re engaging with a
front.
We’re getting a lot of people who previously were
R
new customer, the first person they see – alongside more cautious about releasing part of their helpdesk
an account manager – is the technical person. Every to us who’ve just gone ‘right, we’re going to do it’.
single document that goes out of the organisation We’d been talking to them for two or three years
E
is sanity checked and signed off by the technical saying ‘really, there’s no need to have your Exchange
account manager. It’s driven by the technology guys server sat there because there’s an application that
at our place, so we really are the Yorkshire boys and can do it in the cloud’, but people were so nervous.
girls who love technology. Then when everyone rushed home in March 2020
D
we had people calling us on the day saying ‘right,
Founded: 1995 - What underpinned your fiscal 2019 revenue let’s kick that project off ’. The pandemic has just
c al and profit hike? increased the pace of change.
HQ: Sheffield ni
N
h It’s consistent work we’ve done with our client base
Key vendors: Microsoft, HPE, Cisco t ec (see page 13 for more). It’s not just about chasing What should all good resellers and MSPs be
g, n
doing during this period to ensure they come
VAR 350 ranking: 140 in row down new deals, but also looking after our current
w B out of it stronger?
A
base, and that’s what we’ve done consistently.
ro
Revenue: £31.8m (+59%) -t g eve Netsuite is something we’re having a big push on It’s back to basics. Review the portfolio. Make sure
s t because it’s of benefit to our traditional customers. you’ve got something that can satisfy the needs
fa r S
Net profit margin: 4.6%
L
i s o The installs we’ve done have all come from existing of people right now. Review your systems. And
r th ect that goes right across the board for us when we’re
r
fo di working to ISO or ITIL standards – making sure
l s ng
a i they now fit with what you can and can’t do and
de nag
H
t what clients want.
r a
p po m And the big thing for us was reviewing the health
o of the business both financially (what are we doing
su g t
k
G
s d i n that is dropping to the bottom line, and what is
p de or waste?) and also around staff wellbeing. A huge
I
l c
he , ac
percentage of staff have worked for us for over ten
in list or 15 years and they’ve stayed for a reason. It’s about
e making sure we’re doing even more for those staff
rg cia
su pe and asking them what they’re thinking and feeling.
H
a s
e d ort Do you have any ambitions to expand the
k p
p ar up business or make acquisitions?
s Ts We are making two new director appointments very
a s I
h nd shortly, which are internal promotions. We will have
n a a new technical director and sales director. We’re
o w er
l
ckd sel seeing room for growth already and we’re always
Lo d re on the look-out for new opportunities. We’ve never
taken the plunge and purchased anyone but it is
le
something we will look at.
6 7
Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
WANSTOR
How would you position Wanstor for those who
don’t know you?
We are a London-based MSP specialising in
supporting mid-sized customers in the hospitality,
not-for-profit and professional services sectors to
leverage technology to make them more productive,
secure, and resilient. Our breadth of expertise covers
networking (the ‘WAN’ in Wanstor), cloud, digital,
This London-based MSP – whose customers include Wagamama and Mental security, POS, and support.
Health UK – has been kept busy during the pandemic helping clients transform
into ‘virtual organisations’, commercial director Francesca Lukes tells CRN Wanstor is one of the VAR 350’s fastest-
growing and most profitable companies. How
tough has it been to maintain the success
that underpinned that growth since then, and
how would you assess the demand landscape
for 2021?
We have enjoyed a consistently strong growth
rate of 15-20 per cent over the last few years, and
certainly weren’t expecting a disruption to it in
2020. Our financial year runs from October to
It’s going to be a
September so we had a strong start to the year
before Covid made an impact, and despite the
challenging market we managed to maintain some
growth, though not to the level we had enjoyed
challenging year, but previously or targeted. As a business we have
operated through the financial crisis and other
major events so are confident in the long-term
office footprint, though we will be embracing more
flexible working when we are allowed to return.
we are optimistic
proposition and just need to adapt to the changing These decisions are based on a long-term view. Our
environment as it comes. office locations are very strategic. We have space in
the centre of London, close to many of our clients
It’s often said that Covid has accelerated and equidistant from staff. We have been successful
digital transformation. Is this generating new in being able to significantly improve the terms of our
types of project that didn’t exist pre-pandemic? lease, building in both flexibility and cost savings.
For the first time we have seen customers who
have made the decision to become entirely ‘virtual How optimistic or pessimistic are you for 2021?
Founded: 2002 organisations’, without permanent office space. This It’s going to be a challenging year, but we are
HQ: London isn’t an entirely new phenomenon, but I don’t think optimistic for our restaurant businesses to reopen
we would have seen it pre-pandemic. This decision and rebound to strong demand. There is a huge sense
Key vendors: Microsoft, then spawns a series of other changes to streamline of latent desire to eat out and socialise and this is
Fortinet, Fujitsu, Veeam, service delivery. building daily.
There has also been a huge interest in ‘zero touch Leaving aside the pandemic, this is also a time of
Manage Engine, BT deployment services’ using Windows Auto pilot. The huge technological change and there are lots of other
VAR 350 ranking: 241 idea of building PCs to a predefined ‘golden image’ is factors driving the market. We have BT retiring
rapidly becoming a thing of the past. There are a few PSTN services and rolling out a nationwide Fibre
Revenue: £14.9m (+21%) interesting components to these projects, not least of network. We have fantastic innovations coming in
which is that the ‘zero touch’ element of the work is the cloud services we consume. The use of cash in
Net profit margin: 9.1% inherently ‘Covid secure’. society is rapidly falling and as it does new payment
services and even currencies are being spawned.
Is there an argument for permanently IT security is a challenge for everyone, and there is
downsizing office space? also a growing focus on the “greening” of IT services
For now, we won’t be making any changes to our within both government and private sector.
8 9
Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
We gambled that QUANTIQ is one of the faster growing and
more profitable firms within the VAR 350,
with revenues up by more than a fifth in your
How would you assess the demand landscape
for 2021?
So far, we have seen a 30 per cent increase in
our competitors
calendar 2019. What’s driven that growth, our pipeline and this is driven from multiple
and how tough has that been to maintain commercial and public sector segments. 2021
since the pandemic struck? initially looks strong, but anything can change.
Our strategy has always been about growth. I see Resellers and MSPs have been able to make big cost
would blink
no reason to be the most profitable small company savings on travel, client hospitality and events. Do
in this space. We had always planned for this year you foresee that coming back just as strongly in
to be very profitable because many of our initiatives your business once the pandemic is under control,
and investments were maturing. or – conversely – will some of those savings stick?
We concluded early that the market for cloud My CFO wants those savings to stick. However,
software would be unaffected and we gambled I want to see people back in the office, back on the
that our competitors would blink, furlough, layoff road and making connections with teammates and
and be cautious. So, we over invested in new clients again. I suspect it won’t return to pre-Covid,
capabilities, increased sales and delivery capacity. but somewhere in between.
Traditionally upper-mid-market focused, we
increased our focus on public sector and launched Is there an argument for permanently
into enterprise accounts. downsizing office space?
Sure, there’s a great argument to downsize, but
As a Microsoft Dynamics specialist, how culture will impacted over the long term. We have
closely are your fortunes tied to Microsoft’s? just signed up for more space in London, thus we’re
Extremely close – Microsoft has to make great doing the opposite.
QUANTIQ
products and keep innovating, marketing and selling.
The business application market is growing at around
15 per cent per annum, so remains one of the fastest
growth areas in tech. Microsoft Dynamics is growing
faster than that due to their relentless innovation
and marketing. Their last quarterly results illustrated
Dynamics cloud licensing growth of 39 per cent,
which is pretty consistent with their recent trends.
Having said that, we are focused on outgrowing the
market and our cloud licensing growth is around
Betting that lockdown would turbo-charge cloud adoption, this London-based double Microsoft’s.
Microsoft Dynamics partner doubled down on its growth strategy when the
What should all good resellers and MSPs be
pandemic struck, CEO Stuart Fenton explains doing during this period to ensure they come
out of it stronger?
Our IT industry is such a broad church. Resellers
have different challenges to consultancies like us or
Founded: 2013 MSPs. However, I believe that the most successful
focus during this period is on your employees and
HQ: London clients more than the bottom line profit. It would
be better to come out of this year with a strong
Key vendors: Microsoft business intact and perhaps less profit, but ready for
VAR 350 ranking: 174 the future.
Revenue: £23.8m (+19%) What core attributes have enabled QUANTIQ
Net profit margin: 7.3% to get through this tough period?
Bold risk taking and a great culture combined with
over communication and caring.
10 11
Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
Net profit
YoY growth
Rising Stars in a
margin
In a world where the hybrid office will be the norm,
what will a successful IT solution provider of the Tangible Benefit 46.7% 5.9%
future look like?
Solutionize Global 536.2% 8.4%
post-pandemic world
Who better to ask than the top brass of seven
ambitious resellers and MSPs who are lighting up Highlander 58.6% 4.6%
the market with their high growth and industry-
leading profits? QUANTIQ 18.5% 7.3%
The septet of resellers and MSPs profiled on the
previous pages are all enjoying growth and profits Lima Networks 28.4% 9.0%
What will the successful IT solution provider of the future look like? well above the industry average.
In their latest years on record, their average Wanstor 20.8% 9.1%
revenue growth hit 109 per cent, with average net
profits of 7.8 per cent over three times’ that of the M-Tech 54.4% 10.1%
wider CRN VAR 350 from which they were drawn.
But many of them have also demonstrated their Rising Stars average 109.1% 7.8%
resilience during the pandemic and are banking VAR 350 average 7.8% 2.5%
on continued growth in both their top and bottom
lines even as the UK teeters on the brink of a
double-dip recession. “I started hiring the right people around me and
In this section, we explore what has underpinned we got into some big clients who effectively started
their growth and how the changes they are making asking us, ‘can you do this for us as well?’. We stood
during this difficult period could set them up as up a managed service for Vodafone that we couldn’t
even stronger businesses in a post-Covid world. have done historically, and then more and more
people were asking ‘why don’t you sell product as
How did they get here? well?’
Just like the Beatles – who spent their early years Success has also been a slow burn for another of
honing their craft in the clubs of Hamburg before the Rising Stars, Sheffield-based Highlander, which
they broke through – success was not an overnight saw revenues power up 59 per cent to £31.8m in its
phenomenon for our Rising Stars. fiscal year to 31 August 2019 on the back of “five or
Although their combined revenues rocketed six major contract wins” with existing customers
70 per cent to £176m in their latest sets of annual nurtured over the previous decade.
accounts, gains made during the period were hard “It was down to consistent work we’ve done with
fought and years – or even decades – in the making. our client base,” managing director Steve Brown
Founded in 2009 by David Bentley, Wakefield- revealed.
based Dell partner Solutionize Global is the fastest- “Where we’ve done small bits of work for a client
growing of the seven, with revenues last year – they might have needed a little bit of connectivity
swelling 536 per cent to £41.9m. or a bunch of laptops delivering –- the focus is
“A few things collided, and in my mind it was then on ‘right, what else can we do for you? Have
overdue,” Bentley said of the results, adding that you seen we do services? Have you seen we do the
Solutionize’s revenues only began snowballing when helpdesk and can have engineers down there to
it moved beyond its roots in professional services unpack, deliver, image – whatever you want them to
and into managed services and product resale. do?’ It’s been about gaining trust,” he said.
“It’s taken me longer to get to where we’re at than All five of the other Rising Stars significantly
it should have,” he explained. outgrew the market average in their latest annual
“We’ve always provided people in one way or periods on record, with revenue growth ranging
another. We started to change how we were doing from 19 to 54 per cent.
that four years ago, moving into fixed deliverable
contracts. We won a really big piece of work with Accelerated growth
NHS Digital through G-Cloud. We beat people who And neither have recent events dented the
on paper looked better than us. ambitions of these seven companies, with several
12 13
Rising Stars 2021
of them continuing to hire aggressively even as the at least two strategic acquisitions; I genuinely
PROUD SUPPORTERS OF
UK reels from its worst annual GDP dip in modern believe that we are an excellent platform to absorb
history. companies that have similar growth ambitions,”
This includes LIMA Networks, a Salford-based Lulham said.
THE RISING STARS
managed services provider launched from the
kitchen of co-founder Lisa Thornton in 1997 “as a Doubling down during lockdown
temporary solution to pay the bills”. Successive lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 hit many
Turning over £16.3m in calendar 2019, LIMA VARs and MSPs like a PPE-laden freight train, with
harbours bullish organic and acquisitive growth those rooted in Covid-hit verticals or in installing
OF THE CHANNEL
plans after taking on investment from private equity and supporting on-premises equipment suffering an
house Maven Capital Partners. inevitable downturn in fortunes.
“The business has ambitious plans to achieve Some 57 per cent of CRN readers taking part in
£45m turnover in the next three years, 60 per cent a poll conducted last May said they had furloughed
of which will be generated from managed services staff, with 72 per cent saying the pandemic had
and will create 20 new jobs for the local economy in prompted their firm to revise their growth forecasts
the process,” Thornton told CRN. downwards.
Having grown revenues 54 per cent to £5.1m That said, some tech solution providers with
in its fiscal 2020, the smallest of our Rising Stars a stronghold in security, collaboration, cloud or
– Eastbourne-based M-Tech – is “ready to do the managed service have seen growth continue or even
same going into 2021,” according to its CEO Martin accelerate as the pandemic prompts – in the recent
Lulham. words of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella – a “second
Its recent growth spurt has been underpinned wave” of digital transformation.
by major outsourcing deals and key wins in sectors All resellers and MSPs, however, will have seen
including blue light, with recurring revenues some project delays and rising levels of bad debt as a
bolstered by uptake of its Nutanix-powered cloud result of the pandemic.
and core ISP platform, he told CRN. So how have our Rising Stars responded to the
“By the end of 2021 we aim to have completed post-Covid world?
#CHANNELSTARS Over the last three years gross profit
generated from managed services has
more than doubled and we expect to
see the similar percentage increase
again in 2021.
Lisa Thornton, LIMA Networks
@AgilitasIT
Agilitas IT Solutions Limited
15
Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
moment in our growth journey. I think it’s just For Solutionize Global’s Bentley, the pandemic
ratified what we were already doing well,” he said. has offered more quiet time to think and plan
Similarly, the pandemic has prompted LIMA to following a period of frenetic growth.
“accelerate its push into as a service and managed “I’d describe the last couple of years as a bit like
services,” Thornton confirmed. putting an aeroplane together while flying,” he said.
“Over the last three years gross profit generated “[The pandemic] has really given us time to just
from managed services has more than doubled and stop, take in the new stuff that we don’t know how
we expect to see the similar percentage increase to do, bake the portfolio, build the team, mature as
again in 2021,” she said. an organisation and then crystallise exactly what
we’re going to do.
Adapting to demand “On the managed services side, we’re doing a lot
Counting hospitality (as well as professional services on SD-WAN and also doing cloud managed services
and non-profit) among its key verticals, our seventh in conjunction with Dell and other players. How
and final Rising Star, London-based MSP Wanstor, we’ve put that together is pretty compelling. I’m not
has endured a bumpy 2020 and 2021. sure we would have come to the same result had we
Having seen consistent growth over the previous been living in Yorkshire and spending four or five
I’d describe the last couple of several years – including a 21 per cent hike in its days in London every week.”
last filed annual accounts covering the period to 30 Likewise, Wanstor’s efforts to boost customer and
years as a bit like putting an September 2019 – growth slowed in 2020 as the staff interaction will be one positive lasting legacy of
aeroplane together while flying. pandemic hit spending among some customers, the pandemic, Lukes said.
[The pandemic] has really given commercial director Francesca Lukes said. “Operationally we have implemented new
“It’s going to be a challenging year but we are systems and processes that will give us better
us time to just stop, take in the optimistic for our restaurant businesses to reopen access to company performance data and customer
new stuff that we don’t know how and rebound to strong demand. There is a huge information,” she said.
to do, bake the portfolio, build the sense of latent desire to eat out and socialise and “Both customer and staff engagement have
30 per cent ahead on an annual comparison, this is building daily,” she said. been really high on our agenda. Finding new ways
team, mature as an organisation Fenton said. Lockdown saw Wanstor adapt rather than to reach out, and stay in touch, has meant a lot
and then crystallise exactly what Doing “more of the same” is the mantra of another overhaul its technology offering and strategy as of innovation. Not everything we have done has
we’re going to do. of this year’s Rising Stars, London-based reseller customers turned to it for help scaling up their worked, but we have learned from our mistakes
Tangible Benefit, which claims the provisioning and VPN, RDP, WVD and Teams deployments, Lukes and through a process of refinement have achieved
David Bentley, Solutionize Global configuration work it carries out at its warehouse said. some great success. Learning and development has
has struck a chord during the pandemic. Customers are asking for more help with process always been core to the business, but our focus in
“With lots of people working from home, many automation and optimisation – using Microsoft’s this areas has also improved during the pandemic.”
of our customers don’t currently have a central IT PowerPlatform – and security, she added. Those with a large on-premises maintenance
team who can do this work – so we are doing more “We have strengthened our security professional business will have struggled to get engineers onsite
Those already sitting in growth hotspots turbo- of it for them,” Tangible Benefit operations director services, and have launched solutions for threat during lockdown.
charged by Covid faced the dilemma of whether Stuart Wohlman said. and vulnerability management, SIEM, security But new norms established during the pandemic
to pull in their horns or double down on existing “Laptops/work from home bundles (including awareness, and intelligent networking. We have may actually end up saving them time and money in
growth plans. monitors, docks, webcams, headsets etc) are being become certified Cyber Essentials Assessors and are the long run.
The youngest firm in this report – London-based configured, re-packed and shipped directly to building this capability into all the aspects of our
Microsoft Dynamics specialist QUANTIQ – chose customers’ home addresses. They arrive already set service delivery.”
the latter option, CEO Stuart Fenton explained. up and configured, needing zero input from their IT She added: “Organisations continue to rely on
“We are in the cloud application space, which team.” technology and the services that MSPs deliver will
has simply resonated more during the pandemic,” Tangible Benefit’s lifecycle programme has also continue to be relevant for years to come so we are
Fenton said. “picked up pace” during the pandemic, Wohlman optimistic about 2021 and the longer-term future.”
“As the pandemic struck, there were a couple added. All the processes we’ve
of clients that had a little wobble in their projects “This is where we collect old/redundant laptops Time to plan and think
but got back on track within weeks. We concluded and securely wipe and refurbish them ready for re- Resellers and MSPs could be forgiven for battening previously put in place are
early that the market for cloud software would be distribution back to a different user within the same down the hatches and becoming more insular since getting ripped up.
unaffected and we gambled that our competitors customer or for WEEE disposal/charity donations,” lockdown struck.
would blink, furlough, layoff and be cautious. So he explained. But several of this year’s Rising Stars have done
Steve Brown, Highlander
we over invested in new capabilities, and increased It’s also full steam ahead at M-Tech, which views the opposite, instead seeing the period as a golden
sales and delivery capacity.” the pandemic as validating existing plans to grow its opportunity to upgrade their systems and processes
Having grown revenues 19 per cent to £23.8m in own ISP and cloud services, according to Lulham. and place bets that may well continue to pay off long
calendar 2019, QUANTIQ’s pipeline is currently “We don’t really see the pandemic as a defining after social distancing measures ease.
16 17
Rising Stars 2021
“All the processes we’ve previously
put in place are getting ripped up,” said
Highlander’s Steve Brown, giving the
example of one project where Highlander
engineers who could not travel to a job in
Belgium ended up talking a local employee
through how to configure the hardware
remotely.
“We’ve all got customers we want to
see face to face every now and then,” he
said. “But at the same time, if an account
manager, a project manager and an
engineer are travelling to Bristol for a
meeting to discuss a job that may last
two hours, that can be done on a Teams
meeting with decent quality cameras and it
just disappears. It’s better for us, it’s better
for the environment, and it’s usually better
for the customer.
“You get that work-life balance, that health and There will clearly be no quick return
well-being. It cuts costs and it means our people are to the previous status quo, with
more available. One of the frustrations I’d used to
get is sometimes you wanted a certain engineer – respondents estimating that – on
thinking ‘you’d be good for the job’ – but they’re in average – 66 per cent of their staff
Bristol at a meeting and once the meeting’s finished
they’re out with the client and stay overnight. Now
will still be primarily remote-based in
we can schedule that in every six months and have October 2021.
regular meetings over Teams.
“So I think there are massive benefits coming in.”
Wakefield office for NOC and managed services.”
Office overhaul Savings on first-class tickets to Kings Cross
According to a CRN poll of over 300 UK IT decision and London hotels will add around £400,000 to
makers in October, on average 75 per cent of UK Solutionize’s bottom line, Bentley said.
employees were at that time working from home, The pandemic has given Highlander the chance to
up from 36.6 per cent pre-pandemic. whether to sub-let office space or even devote more
There will clearly be no quick return to the of it to staff wellbeing activities, such as a gym or
previous status quo, with respondents estimating Pilates room.
that – on average – 66 per cent of their staff will still Others, however, see continued expansion of
be primarily remote-based in October 2021. office space and a resumption in face-to-face client
But our Rising Stars are split on what the rise of meetings as key aspect of their growth ambitions,
the hybrid working environment will mean for their even post-Covid.
approach to travel, corporate hospitality and office Fenton at QUANTIQ said the firm has just signed
space. None are planning a real estate cull, with up for more space in London.
the partial exception of Solutionize Global, which “My CFO wants those savings to stick. However
recently opted not to renew the lease on its new I want to see people back in the office, back on the
Mayfair office. road and making connections with teammates and
“We terminated it as we’d used it three times clients again. I suspect it won’t return to pre-Covid,
in one year – it cost five times more than the but somewhere in between,” he said.
Wakefield office for 20 per cent the size,” Bentley Wohlman is of a similar mind, emphasising that
confided. Tangible Benefit has no intention of downsizing.
“We took it because our clients were there. It was “Quite the opposite! Continued growth and
driven by them not ego, but I don’t like the place expansion is the plan so we are considering taking
too much if I’m honest. We will get a London office, on additional office space to house all our new
but we’re not in a rush, and we’ll probably get an recruits in a COVID secure environment/post
exec office in Leeds city centre as we’ll be using the pandemic,” he said.
19Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
Having grown revenues from £6.6m to £41.9m
in your year to 31 March 2020, you’ve set a
£100m revenue goal for your current year? Is
that achievable?
We’re confident We’re confident enough to say we’ve surpassed
the £100m this year. We’ve landed more business
SOLUTIONIZE
with more clients. We’re starting to sell a lot more
enough to say we’ve product (see page 13 for more) and, combined with
a couple of hires from Dell, that’s given us the right
portfolio and team.
surpassed the Has Covid impacted on your trajectory?
Thankfully, no. The dice have been really kind. The
dice were not as kind for my first company – which
£100m this year was supporting financial services companies and
a couple of SIs during the time of the financial
housing crisis. But [this time around] our clients
are people like NHS Digital, Vodafone, Atos and
Capgemini, who want to buy more and can pay us.
Founded: 2009 What changes have you made to your business
during the pandemic?
HQ: Wakefield We took a decision to do a bit of an investment
round in terms of polishing and maturing the
GLOBAL
Key vendors: Dell internal capability. We had scaled so fast that a lot
VAR 350 ranking: 107 of our [systems] were archaic. We had that time to
mature all that.
Revenue: £41.9m (+536%) So we now have the team we need and feel ready
to really go for it once there’s light at the end of the people. I’m not a massive fan of sales people in the
Net profit margin: 8.4% tunnel. traditional sense – even though it’s my background.
We’re building two big inside sales teams that are
It’s often said that Covid has accelerated part graduate-based. It’s not giving any return today
digital transformation. Is this leading to new but I very much see that as the future, particularly
types of project that didn’t exist pre-pandemic? in digital selling and how this is evolving.
Definitely. I could give the example of NHS Resellers and MSPs have been able to make big
Digital in Leeds. Bearing in mind how hard it is cost savings on travel, client hospitality and events.
to get things signed off as a supplier, the sign-off Do you foresee that coming back just as strongly in
period just went ‘click’. They had to build stuff in your business once the pandemic is under control, or
live services for us all super quick, and we were – conversely – will some of those savings stick?
supporting that and had 20 or 30 people on site. A lot of leaders I talk to at Dell, Vodafone don’t
really want to go back to 120,000 air miles. I think
What core attributes have enabled Solutionize roughly 60 or 70 per cent will stick.
to get through this tough period?
Myself and my business partner Alex are all over How optimistic or pessimistic are you for 2021?
This Wakefield-based Dell partner grew sales everything and still running it like it’s quite small. I’m confident about how we’re building out our
536 per cent in fiscal 2020 after moving beyond It’s a tightly knit team and we’re keen to keep that portfolio and client base, but I do remain very
going as much as possible. cautious about the current crisis. I traded through
its roots in professional services. CEO David the financial housing crisis and that was different
Bentley outlines its ambitious post-pandemic You launched a graduate academy in October. as you could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
growth plans How key is that to your approach? Until we see the light at the end of the tunnel it’s
For me it’s buy… and build. We’ve had to buy some very difficult for business leaders to plan.
20 21Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
You saw revenue leap 54 per cent in your year good at to enhance those all-important recurring
to 30 September 2020, and are also in an revenue streams – they pay the bills, everything
elite group of VARs and MSPs making double- else is a bonus.
digit net profit margins. What underpinned
that performance? It’s often said that Covid has accelerated
Growth has been fuelled by major outsourcing digital transformation. Is this leading to
deals across all sectors and key wins in private new types of project that didn’t exist pre-
sector, education and ‘blue light’. Recurring revenue pandemic?
By the end of has also bolstered this year’s figures, with many of
our clients now consuming services from our own
Nutanix-powered cloud and core ISP platform.
Obvious standouts for us have been the uptake of
SD-WAN solutions to support remote working.
This has gone from a steady trickle of enquiries
2021 we aim to
M-Tech has focused its efforts over the last pre-Covid, to a core fundamental offering in our
few years on evolving intellectual property with portfolio. Clients have also become ‘Teams centric’.
own-brand services. This was partly to ensure This product alone has catalysed a number of
we delivered excellent customer service we our customers into fully migrating to Microsoft
have completed at
control ourselves – removing reliance on too 365 – not something they would have considered
many third parties – and also to make us flexible pre-pandemic when they were more insistent
to our customers’ needs. We need to be able to on cuddling their Exchange Server in the broom
least two strategic
support bespoke designs to support complex cupboard!
cloud requirements which subsequently means
avoiding the wholesaler bandwagon. We’ve certainly How optimistic or pessimistic are you for 2021?
been less affected than some competitors that With respect to the business, M-Tech is going into
acquisitions
predominately resell vendor product. 2021 with all guns blazing; acquisition, innovation,
unity and culture our top priorities.
What are your long-term ambitions for the
business?
We’re almost ready to launch our acquisition
strategy, having spent the last year planning and
partnering with various folk from around the M&A
CH
ex is and
sector. By the end of 2021 we aim to have completed
at least two strategic acquisitions; I genuinely
m d
lh d f ge
ns
believe that we are an excellent platform to absorb
Lu se ana
ai
pl companies that have similar growth ambitions.
am ir
Founded: 2002
tin -b m
ar e s
M rn it
HQ: Eastbourne How has the pandemic forced you to rethink
a
O ou for
your technology offering, and how you
CE stb nd
Key vendors: Nutanix, Fortinet,
-TE
provide it?
a a
tr th em
I see a slightly different sales strategy, with
Citrix, Microsoft, Openreach
d
customers now far more receptive to managed
iti ro ic
ai E
VAR 350 ranking: 337 recurring products and services but in essence the
is -g em
on w
technology portfolio remains unchanged.
qu igh nd
l,
Revenue: £5.1m (+54%)
ac is h -pa
What should all good resellers and MSPs be
he th ost
Net profit margin: 10.1%
M
doing during this period to ensure they come
hi ces y p
out of it stronger?
b
y er ed
tt ,
It’s definitely a relevant time to look at overheads
ad s en
and explore whether you need that big swanky
to vi
re oud ld
cl bo
office. Product and service consolidation is worth
Em
looking at. The pandemic will have probably
given you an idea of where your strengths and
weaknesses lie; focus more on the things that you’re
22 23Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
LIMA is one of the faster-growing and more How would you assess the demand landscape
profitable firms within the VAR 350. What’s for 2021?
driven that growth, and how tough has that Employees have even greater expectations in terms
We have ambitious been to maintain since the pandemic struck?
The business has ambitious plans to achieve £45m
turnover in the next three years, 60 per cent of
of work flexibility both in terms of location and
hours. We are seeing this raising the bar in terms of
cybersecurity, IT risk, tools for engagement and the
plans to achieve
which will be generated from managed services and need to deliver digital transformation to automate
will create 20 new jobs for the local economy in the process, ensure strong customer service and create
process. an efficient remote workforce.
We’ve made a substantial investment in our
£45m turnover
S
managed service platform and strengthened Resellers and MSPs have been able to make
recurring revenues by on-boarding new aaS big cost savings on travel, client hospitality
products. The pandemic has not stopped us and events. Do you foresee that coming back
K
pursuing this strategy. In fact, it’s accelerated our just as strongly in your business once the
journey. Over the last three years gross profit pandemic is under control, or – conversely –
generated from managed services has more than will some of those savings stick?
R
doubled and we expect to see the similar percentage I believe there will be a combination. There’s a
increase again in 2021. greater acceptance of the efficiencies that can be
gained from connecting via digital means but we’ve
O
How has the pandemic forced you to rethink all realised throughout this period that there is
Founded: 1997 what technology you offer, and how you no substitute to face to face collaboration. A large
t
HQ: Salford u tfi N provide it? proportion of product and service delivery can be
o R The pandemic has forced everyone to think about the delivered remotely but when it comes to developing
d sC
W
Key vendors: Microsoft, VMWare, s e n
resilience of their organisations. LIMA has developed strategic partnerships with our customers we
NetApp, Cisco, Palo Alto, - ba ru a number of aaS products which can be delivered believe the best connections are made in person.
rd on remotely and will enable customers to drive greater
T
Veeam, Citrix l fo rnt efficiency and resilience into their organisations. What technology or technologies do you think
Sa o will be most instrumental in helping clients
VAR 350 ranking: 223 i s . Th The pandemic has promoted the topic of modern
h return to office/site in 2021?
E
workplace tools and new ways of working to
7 , t wn
Revenue: £16.3m 9 do the forefront of our customers’ minds. We are Workforce optimisation and process automation
19 ck continuing to expand our current portfolio and are software will help businesses plan for a disparate
(+28%) in lo due to launch several new product offerings in Q1. employee base and enable a ‘work anywhere’ culture
N
o n ing to help a staged return to work for employees.
Net profit t r
o rn du Technologies such as cloud-based telephony,
margin: 9% Th es virtual desktop infrastructures, cloud computing
s a vic
i r and M365 all ensure that as employees move
r L se
A
e between home and office, their work environment
d
u nd ge remains consistent. Key to flexible working and
fo n a s movement of employees between office and home
c o- ma tion is an effective security architecture which protects
i
of nto mb
M
assets no matter where they are located. This
n i a
he sh c requires different technology implementations
IL
i tc pu mi and multiple layers of protection to the traditional
k e
h e its nd ‘protect your perimeter’ approach.
t ed pa
in t t-
e d era os Finally, where did the name ‘LIMA’ come from?
d e l p We started our business from my kitchen as a
o un acc its temporary solution to pay the bills. If I’d known that
F s gh 24 years later we would be a CRN Rising Star, I may
ha rou have given the company name consideration… my
th name is Lisa Marie.
24 25Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
Tangible Benefit is one the VAR 350’s fastest-
growing (and also more profitable) firms in
the VAR 350. What explains that growth, and
We are considering
is it sustainable?
We are very proud of what we have achieved (so
far!), especially when you compare our relatively
taking on additional
low staff numbers with our nearest competitors.
We have plans and funding in place to continue the
upwards trend. We recruit our own, train our own
and mentor our own – using our inhouse resources
office space to house and academy programme. This gives us full control
of the complete process – from recruitment to
their first sale, and their ongoing development.
all our new recruits
The growth comes from new sales staff coming on
board and deeper/wider penetration to our existing
account base. It is sustainable: we have a proven and
efficient business model which we are sticking to.
TANGIBLE
Is Covid fuelling new types of project that
didn’t exist pre-pandemic, and if so, is there a
Founded: 1997 good example of this within your client base?
We’ve certainly seen a big uptake in demand for our
BENEFIT
HQ: London engineering and logistics services – replacing those
which a customer may have previously managed
Key vendors: HP, Lenovo, Dell, Cisco themselves. Demand for technology such as
VAR 350 ranking: 106 Windows Autopilot has rapidly increased as it offers
a very neat solution to quickly deploy new machines. in its latest filed accounts (to 31 March
Revenue: £42.1m (+47%) 2020). How tough has it been to maintain the
Will the changes you’ve made to your business success that underpinned that growth since
Net profit margin: 5.9% during lockdown stick? then, and how would you assess the demand
I think some of what we have all adapted to will landscape for 2021?
remain, the obvious one being allowing some It’s tough. We’ve seen aspirational and “nice to
staff to continue to work from home, even if it’s have” projects put on hold while clients focus on
not every day of the week. Some of our existing expanding their WFH environments, so an uptake
customers who hadn’t previously used all of our in end-user compute but also the required up-
value-added services, who now are because of scaling on the back-end infrastructure. The projects
the pandemic and strain it has put on their own which have been put on hold will return.
resources, will (we hope) continue to do so, now
they’ve got a flavour for what we can do. Is there an argument for permanently
downsizing office space?
What should all good resellers and MSPs be Quite the opposite. Continued growth and
doing during this period to ensure they come expansion is the plan so we are considering taking on
out of it stronger? additional office space to house all our new recruits
Ensuring their back end is as efficient as possible, in a Covid-secure environment/post pandemic.
Lockdown has prompted more customers of reducing waste and duplication and increasing
this fast-growing London-based reseller to begin operational efficiency. Offering customers products How optimistic or pessimistic are you for 2021?
and services tailored to their specific needs and Optimistic and excited. We’ve adapted to the “new
using its provisioning and configuration services, challenges. normal” and are stronger because of it. This puts
operations director Stuart Wohlman explains us in a good place for 2021 and we’re keen to help
Tangible Benefit recorded growth of 47 per even more customers using our three-point mantra:
cent and net profit margins of 5.9 per cent supply; deploy; solve.
26 27Rising Stars 2021 Rising Stars 2021
Merger mayhem
January and February alone have seen two a shift in the industry towards cloud connectivity,
blockbuster MSP unions, and a constant trickle of home working and Openreach’s withdrawal of
smaller deals concentrated mainly in the unified copper voice and internet services,” said Focus
comms space. Group managing director Brian Lodge.
In one of the biggest UK channel mergers of Private equity money has driven a flurry of early
A race to land recurring revenue in the wake of the pandemic has seen channel M&A activity recent times, LDC-backed Onecom announced 2021 M&A activity elsewhere, led by ambitious
accelerate in recent months. Here we round up major M&A moves from within the VAR 350 in early February that it was acquiring its “closest unified comms buy-and-builds Babble Cloud and
rival” Olive to form a £140m-revenue comms VAR. Charterhouse (who are backed by Graphite Capital
“The inevitable changes to working patterns and August Equity, respectively).
Covid put the kibosh on blockbuster channel VAR 350 firms were just as often on the giving, across the UK and globally as a result of the Babble intends to make 10 acquisitions in 2021,
unions last year – with not one of the CRN VAR rather than receiving, end of consolidation last pandemic have accelerated the need for integrated while Charterhouse has already gobbled up three
350’s top 50 selling up. year, however, with Babble Cloud, Charterhouse, cloud communications and significantly increased firms since the start of the year.
But smaller M&A roll-ups – mainly by private Content+Cloud, Sabio, OneCom and Timico demand for transformation and digitalisation,” said “The real goal for us at the moment is to take this
equity-backed MSPs – continued apace either side of among those using private equity dosh to make (in OneCom founder Darren Ridge. incredible capability we’re bringing to the group
the first national lockdown, with deals accelerating some cases multiple) acquisitions. Computacenter, As if not to be outdone, two other comms- and bring it all together,” Charterhouse CEO Mark
towards the end of the year and into 2021. meanwhile, pulled off one of the biggest focused VAR 350 outfits – Focus Group and Brooks-Wadham told CRN following its latest
Altodigital, AVMI and Academia were the transatlantic deals by acquiring Canadian Pivot for South West Communications – announced acquisition of Pentesec.
largest resellers to change hands in 2020 (going around £62m in November. their union on the same day, creating a “In Net Connection we bought Extreme
by UK revenue only), with Xerox and Cognizant £100m-revenue outfit. Networks’ number one partner in the UK and
picking off four VAR 350 outfits between them M&A impetus Focus’ acquisition of its Exeter-based rival came probably one of the top two partners in EMEA. If
during the year (see chart, below). With recurring revenues at a premium during the off the back of the retirement of swcomms CEO you look at Symity we bought one of the top two
AVI-SPL was the biggest global reseller to pandemic and business owners wary of capital Tony Rowe, MBE. or three Microsoft Teams businesses in the UK.
switch ownership, selling up to private equity and gains tax changes, deal levels appear to be “The acquisition by Focus Group will coincide If you look at Pentesec we bought the top Check
merging with arch-rival Whitlock. accelerating in 2021. with some great opportunities in the market due to Point business in the UK.”
Anana Olive
Selected VAR 350 firms acquired in 2020-21 Right Digital Solutions
£14m revenue Grey Matter £31.6m revenue
Acquired by Sabio £58m revenue Acquired by
£29m revenue OneCom
AVI-SPL Solid Solutions Acquired by MBO Acquired by Wayside
£55m UK revenue £53m revenue Technology
Acquired by private Acquired by private MTI Swcomms
equity (Marlin) equity (LDC) £35m UK revenue £21.3m revenue
Vysiion Qubic Group
£19m revenue Acquired by Ricoh £7m revenue Acquired by Focus
Sapphire Systems Group
£39m revenue Acquired by Acquired by
Acquired by private Exponential-e Wavenet
equity (Horizon)
Excitech Arena Group Altodigital Academia ECS
£47m revenue £24m revenue £71m revenue £70m revenue £34m revenue
Acquired by Addnode Acquired by Xerox Acquired by Xerox AVMI Acquired by Acquired by Edenhouse
£81m revenue private investor GlobalLogic £38.8m revenue
Acquired by Kinly Acquired by
New Signature UK Inawisdom Accenture
Sol-Tec £10m revenue
£9m revenue £19m UK revenue
Acquired by Cognizant Acquired by
Acquired by Content+Cloud Cognizant
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