Specialism: Memory and data storage
Key vendors: Micron Technology, Kingston Technology, Intel, Solidigm, Innodisk, ATP Electronics, Exascend, Intelligent Memory, Apricorn, Apro
Revenue: £21.9m (-19%)
Headcount: 33
The directors of this memory specialist declared themselves “extremely proud” of its calendar 2023 performance, which they felt exceeded that of its competitors.
Although Simms’ results showed a £5.3m revenue tumble (caused by “a drop in consumer and workplace spending”), operating profits dipped only fractionally to £744,000.
Its CEO, former dairy farmer Andrew Henderson, recently opened up to IT Channel Oxygen about his plans to rewild a 30-acre wheat field near its Kent HQ (pictured above).
“Which distributor would I choose if I could be a fly on the wall?….Exertis”
Quickfire Q&A with Chief Commercial Officer Kevin Howse
What is Simms International’s sweet spot?
Specialist distribution of memory (RAM) and storage devices (SSD, USB, memory cards) for OEMs, system integrators, and service and solution providers.
Which product, service or vendor has stood out for you in 2024?
Micron’s SSD range is turning into a real crowd-pleaser with a range of leading-edge products in the data centre, gaming rigs, and workplace/consumer space.
If you could change one thing about your business at the stroke of a wand, what would it be?
Growth built on referrals!
When will the UK distribution market return to growth?
2026+.
Name one area of your business where you are expecting to add staff in 2025
Commercial.
At its Channel Forums EMEA in October, Canalys characterised AWS Marketplace as one of the world’s largest distributors, owing to its growing third-party software business. On balance, do you agree?
Yes, probably, so channel distributors must remain relevant and find ways to add value as transactional purchases will likely increase on the AWS Marketplace.
If you could be a fly on the wall for a day at another distributor, which would you choose?
Exertis, following their announcement to focus on specialisms and move away from traditional broadline distribution.
See who made the wider Oxygen 50 Must-Know IT Distributors 2024 here.
