UK IT Channel News | IT Channel Oxygen
  • News
  • Topics
    • Vendor
    • Distributor
    • Partner
    • Indepth
    • Sustainability
    • M&A
    • People Moves
    • AI
    • Tech trends
  • About Us
  • Partner with us
  • KOcycle Zone
Members
Must-Know Distributors
Oxygen 250
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Topics
    • Vendor
    • Distributor
    • Partner
    • Indepth
    • Sustainability
    • M&A
    • People Moves
    • AI
    • Tech trends
  • About Us
  • Partner with us
  • KOcycle Zone
No Result
View All Result
UK IT Channel News | IT Channel Oxygen
No Result
View All Result
Home M&A

‘As a reseller, you need a level of scale’ – Econocom drops M&A hint after SmartComm asset buy

France-based reseller closing in on more UK and Irish acquisitions

Doug Woodburn by Doug Woodburn
15 May 2025
in M&A, News, Partner
Gavin Bell, Econocom
Share on LinkedinShare on Twitter

Econocom Products & Solutions UK is poised for further acquisitive and organic growth following its SmartComm asset purchase, its CEO Gavin Bell has indicated.

Having acquired its way into the UK reseller market in 2021 via its purchase of Apple reseller Trams, Econocom in March bolstered its UK audio-visual capabilities via the SmartComm deal.

But the Paris-headquartered giant is looking to scale its UK business further as part of wider plans to grow revenues to €4bn by 2028, Bell told IT Channel Oxygen.

“As a reseller or IT solutions provider, you need a level of scale,” Bell said.

“The whole point of Econocom coming in and getting that footprint with Trams was to grow it, so that we’re a larger business that’s more similar to what we’ve got in France, Spain, Belgium or Italy.”

Smart move

Econocom acquired SmartComm’s assets in their entirety, and has since taken on a “significant portion” of its team, Bell indicated.

Boasting over 100 staff and revenues of over £25m at its peak, High Wycombe-based SmartComm fell into administration in February following a winding-up petition from HMRC.

Econocom is less interested in SmartComm’s residential business – which supplied AV kit to high net worth individuals and apartment blocks – than its corporate arm, Bell explained.

“I’ve had lots of meetings with ex SmartComm customers, where we’ve gone in and are looking to re-engage either from project or a support perspective,” Bell said.

“They’ve all been really complimentary about SmartComm’s reputation and the quality of the service they provided. We’ve secured a number of significant contracts over the last few weeks, and there’s more we expect to sign.

“Although it’s not an acquisition in the traditional sense, we wanted to use it to accelerate that existing AV capability we had in the UK.”

Ireland awaits

Although Econocom in December 2023 rebranded its €250m-revenue AV business as ‘Gather’, this new brand is not yet being used in earnest in the UK, Bell clarified.

“I’m mindful that actually Econocom isn’t as well known in the UK as an IT solutions and services provider as a lot of household names you come across,” he said.

“Our heritage in the UK is more around financing solutions.

“In the UK, we really want to focus on the Econocom brand to get that name more prevalent in the market. If we start to talk about Econocom AND Gather, it dilutes the message, which is that Econocom is wanting to grow, wanting to acquire, and wanting to become a bigger player in UK IT and financing.”

Gavin Bell, Econocom
Gavin Bell

A €225m private placement Econocom carried out earlier this month will be used partly to fund targeted M&A.

On this front, Econocom is on course to complete an Irish AV acquisition in the coming months, Bell indicated.

“If you look at the AV industry in Ireland, it feels like either people need to acquire or be acquired,” he said.

Econocom Products & Solutions UK’s headcount has swelled from around 50 to 75 since Bell  joined from Computacenter last July, with the wider UK headcount now standing at close to 110 if the finance arm is included.

“In the next couple of months, I expect we will have doubled the number of employees [for Products & Solutions] in the UK,” Bell said.

“We’re doing that through a mixture of acquisitions and aggressive talent attraction. Then in H2, we want to grow further through the acquisition strategy.”

Econocom Products & Solutions last November rebranded from Trams and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Econocom.

“We were never going to stop there. The whole point was to come in and expand the business in the UK and Ireland. We’re absolutely looking to do that,” Bell concluded.

Doug Woodburn
Website |  + postsBio

Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen

  • Doug Woodburn
    https://itchanneloxygen.com/author/itchanneloxygen-com/
    ‘We needed to make a clear distinction’ – e92plus CEO on ‘e92spark’ launch
  • Doug Woodburn
    https://itchanneloxygen.com/author/itchanneloxygen-com/
    ‘How’s this not been done before?’ – channel talent pros unite to tackle common challenges
  • Doug Woodburn
    https://itchanneloxygen.com/author/itchanneloxygen-com/
    ‘The excitement is palpable’ – HP reveals dual channel ploy for refurbished PCs
  • Doug Woodburn
    https://itchanneloxygen.com/author/itchanneloxygen-com/
    ‘We redesigned the whole business’ – LIMA CEO on services reinvention
Tags: Econocomfeaturedmember
Previous Post

Network Group targets wider C-Suite amid plans to double members

Next Post

UK partners rally round after Microsoft lays off 6,000

Related Posts

‘An important moment’ – Microsoft partners hail government Copilot experiment showing 26-minute daily saving
AI

‘An important moment’ – Microsoft partners hail government Copilot experiment showing 26-minute daily saving

4 June 2025
Change at the top for channel quartet
People Moves

Change at the top for channel quartet

3 June 2025
John Hayes-Warren, Intec
Distributor

Intec Micros unveils new networking and connectivity focus

3 June 2025
Mukesh Gupta, e92plus
Cybersecurity

‘We needed to make a clear distinction’ – e92plus CEO on ‘e92spark’ launch

2 June 2025
Elisha Kirkham, Softcat
Careers & Skills

‘How’s this not been done before?’ – channel talent pros unite to tackle common challenges

30 May 2025
Klaus Schlichtherle, Infinigate
Distributor

Infinigate outgrows its 11 major peers, reaffirms €5bn target

29 May 2025
‘By far the most important factor’ – analyst on Softcat’s share surge
News

‘By far the most important factor’ – analyst on Softcat’s share surge

28 May 2025
Westcon Comstor HQ
Distributor

Cyber generates more than half Westcon-Comstor’s sales for first time

27 May 2025
Next Post
Richard Gibbons and Stuart Goldwater

UK partners rally round after Microsoft lays off 6,000

Follow Us

IT Channel Oxygen keeps you informed on the UK IT channel and its sustainable transformation. Learn more

  • About
  • Our Team
  • Partner with us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • News
  • Cookie Policy (UK)

© 2025 IT Channel Oxygen

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
No Result
View All Result
  • Oxygen 250
  • Must-Know Distributors
  • Member area
  • KOcycle Zone
  • Big Interview
  • News
  • Indepth
  • About
  • Partner with us

© 2025 IT Channel Oxygen