Eurostar Global Electronics has confirmed the appointment of Adam Davison as its new supply chain manager.

Davison joins the distributor after 18 years at Tech Data and will report to Eurostar MD Peter Carnall in his new role.

He will be responsible for developing Eurostar’s third-party logistics offering, while also supporting the current operations teams as it moves to its new 43,000sq ft warehouse in Q4 of this year.

“Adam’s appointment will also allow us to develop opportunities with other technology and wireless device suppliers. He will work closely with the rest of the Eurostar team to explore these and help grow our new distribution services,” said Carnall.

Commenting on his appointment, Davison added: “It’s a great time to be joining Eurostar as it’s a business that’s got big ambitions and is expanding.

“I will focus on delivering support to the current operations team and an enhanced third-party logistics service. I’ll also be looking at how we can expand the current range of services the business offers, and I’ll be able to use my wealth of contacts to help deliver growth specifically in this area of the business.”

Eurostar Global Electronic’s annual growth of nearly 30 per cent makes it one of the Midlands fastest-growing companies according to Midlands Business Insider magazine, which ranks companies based on growth over a four-year period.

The Staffordshire-based distributor ranked 32 out of 100 in the magazine’s annual Growth 100 index for 2022.

Midlands Business Insider’s Growth 100 considers a company’s turnover over five years, from data submitted to Companies House to calculate an average percentage gain over four years. To make it into the G100, a business has to have shown an increase in its turnover of more than 18 per cent a year, for four years.

Eurostar Global’s s ranking in this year’s Growth 100 qualified by its year-on-year growth of 29.18 per cent. Topping the list is Gymshark, Solihull-headquartered fitness apparel and accessories brand which sells online in approximately 170 countries.

“EGE continues to deliver significant growth and is building on its reputation and working on enhancing its position as a leading wireless technology hardware distributor, through expansion into the wider ecosystem of complementary products and services,” said managing director Peter Carnall (below).

“Being featured in this year’s Growth 100 is a significant achievement. To rank 32n out of 100 alongside local Midlands businesses such as Gymshark and Palletline is a significant achievement that makes me immensely proud. Delivering double-digit growth as we enter our 16th  year of trading, is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and experience of the team here at Eurostar.

“It also gives us the base to continue our future expansion, as we embark on our plans for 2022 and beyond. This includes a new 43,000sq ft warehouse (main pic) and an innovative new range of products and services. We’ll soon have the capacity and capability to offer a unique and differentiated distribution proposition, that will enable us to build on the results that have helped us achieve this ranking.”

Eurostar Global has announced plans to relocate its headquarters later this year.

The distributor has confirmed it has signed a 10-year deal with St. Mowden Logistics to move to the new 43,000 sq ft facility in Stoke.

Operational staff are expected to move to the new HQ, located at St Mowden Park Stoke Central in Q4.

With the current headcount at 60, Eurostar Global are ambitious that the move will allow staffing numbers to grow past 100 in the next three years.

It also comes as Eurostar Global reported yearly growth of 20 per cent during 2020, the distributor’s fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth.

This new unit includes a 52m yard, 10m haunch height, two dock level loading doors, two level access loading doors plus grade ‘A’ office accommodation.

Outgrown

Commenting on the plans, Eurostar Global MD Peter Carnall said: “Despite challenges faced across the economy during the last 12 months with both the Covid pandemic and the UK’s exit from the European Union, Eurostar has continued to deliver for its vendors and customers.

“Having outgrown our existing facility, the business has solid growth opportunities and plans in place that will see this increased space enable a vibrant and diverse cross-section of incremental revenue streams.”

Eurostar Global sales and purchasing director Brett Watmough added: “The move is spurred on by our 20 per cent growth in the last year, our fourth year in a row of double-digit growth.

“We have unprecedented demand for our products and services from vendors, airtime resellers, MNOs, MVNOs and large retailers. The move to this new facility will allow us to deliver for these partners.”

Samsung and Oppo have confirmed they are among vendors affected by the global chipset supply crisis, which stems from the closure of factories and excess demand for home tech products during the pandemic.

A statement from Samsung said: “The current volatility of the semiconductor market is being felt across the entire technology industry and beyond.

“At Samsung, we are making our best efforts to mitigate the impact and will continue to work diligently with our partners to overcome supply challenges.”

A spokesperson at Oppo said: “The industry as a whole is facing a stretched supply chain, which requires the concerted efforts of the whole industry to overcome.

“Oppo has always adopted a proactive procurement strategy for core components, allowing it to guarantee product delivery to consumers.”

Distributors, too, have noticed the pinch. “Like other businesses, we are seeing issues with chipset shortages and managing our way through this with vendors and customers to reduce the impact,” said Exertis mobile commercial director Paul Jacobs.

The global chipset supply crisis is impacting some of the biggest smartphone vendors, with semiconductor shortages also impacting on other consumer electronics products such as TVs, gaming consoles and even car manufacturers.

Closures

The supply chain for chipsets made in China and the US was initially hit by the closure of factories.

This delayed the launch of Apple’s iPhone 12 series by two months last year.

Demand for more tech products fuelled by people working from home has aggravated the problem, despite production being back to normal now.

However, another distributor, New Way International, said there has been no issues so far.

IDC smartphone semiconductors, connectivity research director Philip Solis has accused some vendors as being too cautious when ordering stock of chipsets.

“A lot of the problem around the mobile phone space has to do with phone OEMs being overly cautious and ordering extra inventory so that they do not get caught short, and that is actually causing more tightness in the market. Chip fabrications are very close to 100 per cent utilisation.”

Brightstar has announced a new customer contact centre in Crewe as the distributor continues with its £50 million investment in the UK.

The new hub will house over 120 customer service agents and sets out to enhance the customer service experience and help underpin growth for the next decade.

This centre is located at Orbit Development’s Gawsworth House at Crewe Business Park.

It is expected to be open from April with fit-out works starting immediately on-site ahead of the move.

The announcement follows a commitment from Brightstar to invest £50m in its UK business, as revealed last year.

This included a move to a new technology enabled Advanced Fulfilment Centre which consolidated Crewe as the European hub of the business.

Go-to for device protection

Brightstar executive vice president Gerry O’Keeffe is confident the move will enable Brightstar to become the “first-choice” device protection service provider in the UK.

“Together with our Advanced Fulfilment Centre we’re creating world class operations that will drive exceptional customer experiences for our clients.

“Brightstar has a proven track record for enhancing NPS and customer satisfaction and I’m thrilled that our new contact centre will enable us to become the first-choice device protection service provider in the UK.”

Last week Brightstar also announced the acquisition of customer service management provider LucidCX.

This move has been done to boost customer service experience, while LucidCX supports customers through the entire lifecycle from a range of services, from onboarding to repairs, returns and upgrades, across multiple channels including digital, retail, call centres and head offices.

In November last year Exertis’ revenue for the first half of the financial year had grown by 9.7 per cent.

This despite a devastating global pandemic ripping through economies worldwide, represented a strong performance from the distributor.

And last year Exertis posted revenue of £3.9 billion, largely driven by its international growth.

But despite a solid first half, DCC Group managing director Tim Griffin is cautious to get too carried away with numbers.

Since Mobile News last spoke to Griffin in November last year, the country has been placed back into another national lockdown, further restricting the economy.

“I think uncertainty is the new norm,” said Griffin, who adds that the pandemic continues to challenge Exertis, but he’s upbeat that other areas of the business can continue to drive growth.

Griffin, who has been at Exertis for coming up to three years this June is keen to deliver an update on how the business continues to operate in the midst of a global pandemic.

Impact of Covid-19

It’s impossible to have a conversation in 2021 and not discuss the impacts of the ongoing global pandemic.

“We continue to have businesses that continue to perform and others that are challenged, and you don’t have to be a genius to figure out which ones are which,” explains Griffin.

He reveals that businesses that require premises access for installations have suffered due to the pandemic, with Pro AV also suffering.

“We have a very big Pro AV business, but the reality is that Pro AV is really a solution for crowds in the office or in entertainment and hotels. During the pandemic it’s been a challenge for those industries and there’s been little we can do about that.”

However there is still much optimism for Exertis, especially around remote working opportunities and consumer offerings.

“We have seen stronger sales of computers and desktops and these have fallen under part of the businesses that I mentioned earlier that are ‘blessed’.

“Consumer anything has been good, in particular anything that has enabled remote working, remote communications again has been significant as well.”

In general though Griffin is pleased as he says Exertis has been able to keep up with the consumer demand during these testing times.

“We haven’t missed a beat in terms of being able to ship and get our shipments out to these customers.

“Obviously there has been an orientation towards consumers and that has meant we have had a lot of volume, so our house operations teams deserve a huge amount of credit for the challenges they’ve overcome around delivering a safe environment for those teams to work in.”

Mobile core

A key cog of Exertis is mobile which Griffin says is crucial to the consumption of technology of consumers.

“I think the mobile device is core to us being able to manage our lifestyles and as a distributor of end-to-end technology it’s a key component. So mobile is absolutely part of our future.”

Griffin reveals that Exertis sold around 1.5 million smartphones last year to its customers in the B2B, retail and operator channels.

A large quantity of those were Samsung models, while Exertis also boasts an impressive array of Android vendors, including Huawei, Nokia, Sony, Google, Motorola and Oppo.

“We can be seen as the home of Android, we’ve got a really good stable of Android phones, and while Samsung is our biggest vendor, it’s a mix across the board.

“At Exertis we provide our vendors the ability to access the market. We provide them reach that they can’t get to and we provide reach both into B2B channels and into retail.”

Huawei still has role to play

A notable name on the list of vendors is Huawei, who have experienced well documented problems over the past couple of years.

However despite the Google ban and the government’s decision to U-turn on a decision to allow Huawei a role in 5G networks across the UK, Griffin still has faith in the partnership.

“Huawei is more than just the mobile element of it and so we’ve had excellent collaboration between ourselves through the challenges. We still serve considerable numbers of smartphones, but we do a host of other things for them in terms of wearables and tablets and laptops and notebooks.”

“The partnership’s really strong in the sense of great collaboration and we continue to work with them in the mobile space as Huawei continues to push hard with new stores in Europe. It’s a collaboration that will continue for some considerable time I hope.”

On the list of vendors Exertis currently works with, Oppo is one of its newer partners, and like its Chinese rival Huawei is part of the top five smartphone brands worldwide.

Oppo shipped 115.1 million smartphones during 2020, according to CCS Insight for nine per cent market share globally.

The vendor has partnerships in the UK with EE, O2 and Vodafone, and has impressed Griffin, who has high hopes for the brand.

“Just looking at Oppo’s latest numbers and it’s a very solid Q3, with their market positioning around the top end of medium.

“Oppo has been targeting the £390 to £400 price band and have been doing a nice job in that space, so we expect to continue to be able to help and support them grow.”

He adds that Exertis will always continue to be on the lookout for new brands to work with, adding them as and when appropriate.

Refurbished opportunities 

Another important area of mobile is the growing refurbished market and is also important for Exertis.

The company first added a refurbished and reverse service logistics offering back in 2017, with the acquisition of MTR Group.

And in August 2019 the distributor announced it will sell refurbished handsets for B2B, enterprise mobile and retail markets.

Most recently Exertis has developed the Aznu brand, which is exclusively available through retailer Argos. Aznu offers a range of premium handsets, initially launching with Samsung Galaxy S 10 and S10+ devices.

Refurbished smartphones are projected to grow substantially in the coming years. In 2019, 206.7 million units were sold globally, according to IDC. This number is expected to hit 332.9 million by 2023.

Unsurprisingly Griffin sees this market as a huge opportunity for Exertis.

“The refurbished market is very important for Exertis. I think that it’s driven by the average selling price (ASP) and as the ASPs rise, the residual value of a 24 month contract goes up too.

“You’ve got the latest technology in your hand at a fraction of the price, and with ASP rising by around 11 to 12 per cent last year despite the market, that’s only going to fuel the second hand market more.”

International

During the last year there has also been changes at Exertis, with long-term managing director Gerry O’Keeffe departing the distributor after 13-years service.

DCC Group veteran of 11 years Clive Fitzharris has taken over the role that O’Keeffe vacated and is now overseeing Exertis’ international business.

And growing the international business has been a key focus during Griffin’s time at Exertis, he explains.

“When I initially came into the business, the balance of Exertis was 80 to 20 in favour of UK and Ireland, and we’ve wanted to break out internationally and expand the business. We’ve been able to do this through a number of acquisitions and this has driven organic growth.”

During this time Exertis has acquired German audiovisual distributor Comm-Tec and Irish firm BConnected Limited, a provider of enterprise mobile management (EMM) and mobile device management solutions (MDM).

The distributor also acquired Dutch firm Amacom in 2019 and most recently California-based JB&A, a distributor of broadcast, post-production and pro AV technologies.

The international business helped offset a slight drop in Exertis’ UK arm last year.

“The overall Exertis business will be around 50-50 split this year between UK and Ireland and internationally, partly by design and also in part because of Brexit and Covid.

“We didn’t expect to achieve the ambition quite so quickly and quite the way we did but it just reiterates the importance of our international operation.”

Remote work balance 

As far as the future is concerned, Griffin is convinced that remote working is here to stay. Although he firmly believes the office is far from obsolete.

“We’ve opened the pandoras’ box to a wider community and it’s going to be really hard to go back for people to exactly the way we were.

“I think that it will be a drift back into office, so I don’t think the office is dead by any stretch of the imagination, but I think that people will take advantage of some of the benefits of working from home.”

He also expects more hot-desking in the future, but jokes that we are ‘social animals’ that crave human interaction, and this is how he sees some business at least being carried out.

And while he acknowledges that there’s significant benefits to remote working, with regards to cost implications, a balance is key.

“But getting to know the person you’re going to make a significant investment with is important and so while there is a high degree of virtual elements that will remain, I think that the people will still want to meet so we’ll see a balance, but I don’t think it will go back to the way it was.”

Brightstar has announced the acquisition of customer service management provider LucidCX.

The acquisition comes as the global distributor looks to boost the level of customer service it provides for its growing service portfolio.

LucidCX supports customers through the entire lifecycle from a range of services, from onboarding to repairs, returns and upgrades, across multiple channels including digital, retail, call centres and head offices.

The firm provides customer service management software and services to a range of leading banks, mobile phone networks, insurers, manufacturers and retailers.

These partners include; Samsung, Three, Sky, Virgin Media, Tesco Mobile and Assurant.

Customer service boost

Brightstar will use LucidCX’s software and services to boost its own customer service and customer care.

Brightstar will also help LucidCX expand its operations and deliver its services to a host of a new customers.

Brightstar CEO Rod Millar said: “LucidCX builds additional capabilities into Brightstar’s services, supporting our Device Protection, and wider smart technology services, ensuring we deliver exceptional value and capabilities to our customers.

“The addition of LucidCX will enable Brightstar to deliver the best experience to consumers as it continues to drive innovation and value throughout the device protection landscape.”

LucidCX CEO Matt Dyson adds: “Together we can further transform the customer journey, and we are excited to tap into Brightstar’s resources and reach to scale our offering and support more global customers.”

Tech Data has extended its partnership with Google by adding its Android Enterprise Essentials mobile security service.

The distributor says that Android Enterprise Essentials makes deploying and managing devices easier and more cost-effective for organisations of all sizes.

It has set up an Android Enterprise Essentials Zero-Touch Enrolment area on InTouch, its online procurement and order management platform, so companies can more easily register and enable new Android devices.

“The explosion in use of mobile devices has led to mobile device management becoming a big challenge for organisations,” said Tech Data UK and Ireland enterprise software and cloud director Simon Bennett (pictured).

“Up to this point they have been faced with making a choice between highly-functional ‘full fat’ enterprise-focused solutions that are quite expensive to deploy, or basically, having no MDM.”

Bennett added: “While, according to IDC, over 50 percent of the mobile devices deployed for business use in Western Europe are Android-based, most businesses do not have an MDM solution in place. That’s the gap that Google’s Android Essentials is aiming to fill.”

To support the availability of the new software and encourage uptake among its customers, Tech Data will offer training modules covering Android Essentials.

These modules will be available for reseller partners free of charge on Tech Data’s Channel Academy training platform.

Livewire Telecom is the exclusive launch distributor for Mara Phones, the smartphone brand whose devices are exclusively manufactured in Africa.

Mara devices are available through the manufacturer’s website, as well as Livewire’s online retail arm eFones, having launched on December 3.

The manufacturer is a subsidiary of the Dubai-based Mara Corporation. It opened its first factories in October last year, in the Rwandan capital Kigali, and the South African port city of Durban, with a third in the Nigerian city of Lagos to come next year. It sells its devices in 25 African countries.

These factories employ more than 90 per cent local employees. The company also donates 0.5 per cent of its revenues to local charities in the territories it has a manufacturing or commercial presence.

“Mara Phones has strong ethos around business and social impact, which appeals to the more conscious consumer, and we are thrilled to be able to establish an official presence here,” said Mara Phones UK and EU executive director Rona Kotecha.

Mara’s UK launch has been delayed from its original March launch date due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Devices

Mara’s debut UK devices are the Mara Z1 and X1 smartphones, which cost £199.99 and £149.99 respectively.

The Z1 runs Android 10 on the Mediatek Helio A25 chipset, with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, expandable to 256GB with a microSD card.

It has a 6.517-inch HD+ screen display, a 4,000mAh battery, and a 16MP+8MP+2MP real camera setup, with a 13MP front camera.

The X1 runs Android 10 on the Mediatek Helio A20 processor, with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage, expandable to 256GB with a microSD card.

It has a 6.088-inch HD+ display with a 4,000mAh battery, and a 13MP+2MP+2MP rear camera setup, with a 13MP front camera. Both devices also have NFC, face unlock and a rear fingerprint scanner.

The Mara S is also available exclusively from Mara Phones’ website, but Mara’s UK sales director Adam Godwin told Mobile News he did not expect much demand for it, as it is a basic entry-level device limited to 3G connectivity that is more aimed at Mara’s African customers.

“Mara Phones offers the UK mobile consumer that appealing mix of quality and affordability at a time when good value really matters,” said Livewire CEO Richard Gallant. “We are pleased to now be able to offer an excellent product much greater global reach.”

Tech Data has made strides in the repair and insurance and 5G WAN spaces with two new partnerships.

Tech Data’s reseller partners will now be able to access IT and mobile repair and insurance services from MendIT, and 5G WAN solutions from Cradlepoint.

MendIT

Tech Data’s partnership with MendIT means its retailer and reseller partners can quote their customers for warranties and repair services offered by the Burnley-based firm.

The distributor is offering more than 300 contracts that it claims cover all the major hardware brands.

To support the partnership, Tech Data has appointed Rachel Baker as a full-time business development executive to drive business with MendIT.

“This agreement with MendIT is a valuable addition to our lifecycle services portfolio,” said Tech Data’s managing director for endpoint solutions James Reed (pictured).

“This, along with our other lifecycle offerings, provides our partners with a complete services ecosystem that allows them to offer more value and investment protection to their customers and drive higher revenues and profitability.”

MendIT sales director Andrew Derbyshire added: “This partnership is a landmark for MendIT. By making our services an integral part of their lifecycle proposition, Tech Data is opening up huge additional potential for us to reach out to more partners, help them to grow their sales and deliver more value to their end user customers.”

As part of the launch, Tech Data is offering a free OtterBox protective case for mobile phones on selected MendIT contracts.

Cradlepoint

Tech Data’s reseller partners are now also available to offer Cradlepoint’s range of connectivity offerings.

This marks Tech Data’s UK entry into the connectivity market, with Reed calling it a “highly significant addition” to the distributor’s portfolio.

“It takes us into the cellular connectivity market at a time when maintaining a reliable connection is more vital than ever to organisations,” he said. “With Cradlepoint’s solutions, our reseller partners will be able to offer fast, reliable, and flexible connectivity where it’s needed, and whether it’s the primary or a backup connection.”

Tech Data says it is recruiting a dedicated business manager for its Cradlepoint offerings and developing a programme to give resellers the requisite knowledge to be accredited providers of Cradlepoint.

Reed added: “We see huge potential for Cradlepoint’s offerings, not only in the enterprise and mid-market spaces, but also in vertical segments where there is a need to deploy dependable connectivity fast and wherever it may be required, and for edge-located IoT and data collection applications.”