You recently launched your ‘Agilico Zero’ brand of refurbished printers. What are they, and how successful have they been?
We soft launched our circular-first proposition in April 2023, but it accelerated very quickly and over the last twelve months accounted for one third of all unit sales. These products are Ricoh, KM and Canon devices which have been supplied by the OEMs and refurbished by our engineering teams. The proposition to a customer is simple: we have nearly-new devices available at a lower price point, alongside the same service guarantee and with very significant environmental benefits.
You chalked up a “significant” rise in fiscal 2024 gross profits “largely” to your increased focus on sustainability and circular-first approach. Isn’t it easier to make money from selling new than reused equipment?
We have managed to procure and engineer the right products and can now deliver both incremental economic and environmental benefits. It has taken a significant investment across operations, sales, and marketing, but the outcome is that we have a truly differentiated proposition.
You placed sustainability “firmly at the centre of the business” during the year. Why?
We identified a significant amount of waste in the MPS industry through extensive analysis, including a publication from the EU’s Joint Research Council who have essentially added more pressure on to the OEMs to increase the durability and repairability of devices. We have simply said to the OEMs that we can help share that burden and work in partnership for the greater good.
What are your long-term ambitions for Agilico Zero and your circular revenue streams?
We have now placed Agilico Zero in the centre of the circular tech eco system alongside other fast-growing products such as refurbished laptops, phones, switches etc. These markets were small just a few years ago, but are accelerating quickly which is why we are so excited about Agilico Zero. What is really encouraging for us is that while we are disrupting a mature industry with a circular-first approach, our software companies continue to build great proprietary products for our customers including accounts payable automation, EDM, hosted telephony and, very soon, purchasing order processing – this will evolve quickly and the margins in SaaS are obviously meaningful.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
