Converge UK’s returning leader has vowed to “get back on that track of growth” as he acknowledged its previous owner “slowed us down”.
Simon Harbridge returned to the business – formerly Stone – as Executive Chair last month as Inspirit Capital stepped in to acquire the Staffordshire-based VAR, system builder and ITAD.
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen, Harbridge conceded its ownership spell under Canadian VAR Converge Technology Group failed to live up to hopes.
This resulted in him leaving the business in October 2024 – just two years after it acquired Stone and a year earlier than planned.
“There’s a fantastic buzz around the place at the minute with this change,” said Harbridge, who said he had been in talks with new PE owner Inspirit for over two months ahead of his return to the business.
“People are glad to have our own destiny in our own hands again. We will invest in the business, invest in the people, and get back on that track to growth.”
“They slowed the business down”
Converge Technology Group acquired Stone in 2022 as part of an international acquisition spree.
But the Toronto-based outfit was forced to refocus on North America due to a combination of M&A “indigestion” and a fall in its share price, Harbridge said.
“That meant the grand strategy we’d had in the UK just didn’t exist anymore,” Harbridge explained.
“But we didn’t know that straight away. I presented two or three acquisitions I wanted to do. I did a lot of work to develop the business that just never got any support. Two years in, they’d done absolutely nothing with the business.
“That two-year period was me doing a lot of work at the start that never got realised, followed by 12 months of twiddling my thumbs.”
Its North American owner also “slowed the business down a bit”, Harbridge claimed (its 2024 accounts show revenue dipping 9% to £162.4m).
“We grew for seven years at 14.5% – when we needed to take a decision, we took it quickly,” he said.
“When you become part of a large corporate, they put this matrix of who can sign off what – there were three people above us in the US signing off getting a van.
“Converge kind of sucked the life out of it a bit.
“We’ve got a growth strategy in place, and we’re going get the momentum back that Converge managed to lose along the way.”
“I cared about where it went”
Although Harbridge spent his 15-month hiatus “having a really good time”, the Converge UK business was never far from his mind once it became clear that new owner HIG would sell it amid plans to create a new super-VAR called Pellera Technologies.
“The UK was a pimple on the bottom of [HIG’s] US strategy, so Converge UK very quickly became non-core, which I found out about straight away,” he said.
“I was looking from the outside, wondering who was going to buy it.
“I cared about where it went. I was talking to a few investors who were interested in buying it, although by chance no one I was talking to got anywhere near the final deal.
“But I met [Inspirit Partner] Albert [Farrant] about two-and-a-half months ago, when he got exclusivity on the deal, and that’s when we started talking.
“Inspirit has had a lot of success in bringing back previous founders or executives and reinvigorating businesses that way.
“Whilst [Converge UK] didn’t have the luxury of choosing them, we couldn’t have chosen a better [PE] for this stage. They really are interested in the business, and ESG is right at the forefront of their values.”
“The initial assumption was we’d go back to ‘Stone’”
Given Harbridge himself subconsciously referred to the business as ‘Stone’ throughout the interview, would it not have made more sense to drop ‘Converge’ and revert to its old name?
The connotations thrown up by ‘Stone’ are a bit “old-fashioned”, Harbridge responded.
“I think the assumption was initially we’d go back to ‘Stone’,” he said.
“But Converge have dropped the name ‘Converge’, so they made the brand available if we wanted it – and the business has spent a lot of money and gone to a lot of time and trouble rebranding itself as Converge.
“And in a way, it’s quite nice that it’s a progressive movement for Stone in the market, because for a long time Stone was known as a PC builder.
“We’re now a modern value-added reseller with a lot of strings to our bow, and the Stone product is only part of the offering.
“So in a way, it’s actually a step forward to differentiate the name of the business from the [server, workstation, desktop and laptop] products.”
Harbridge positioned Converge UK as the “leading ITAD in the UK”, adding that its strengths here create “warm conversations” for its resale business.
“[We say], ‘well, you already trust us with your data and your recycling – and you’ve got these rebates from your recycling as well… wouldn’t you like to spend them with us?’ It’s a very growth-oriented model.”
“Committed for the foreseeable future”
When Harbridge agreed to rejoin Converge UK as Executive Chairman, it was only in a part-time capacity to support MD Tim Westbrook.
Westbrook’s unexpected decision to depart the business last month means Harbridge is back at the tiller full time, however.
“Will I be working in 10 years’ time? The answer is obviously no,” Harbridge said.
“But will I be leaving anytime soon? The answer is no.
“I’m committed for the foreseeable future. We’ve got places we want to go.
“It just seemed like a great opportunity to get Stone into independent UK ownership again, and get it moving after three years of stagnation.
“I was very happy to shake Albert’s hand and agree to do it. I just didn’t realise it would be full time.”
Harbridge was quick to stress he harbours no ill feeling towards its former North American owners.
“They came into the UK with ambitions they couldn’t fulfil, and walked away in a tidy, orderly fashion. We’re super excited about what we’re going to do next,” he concluded.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
