Mitel distributor Trust Distribution has returned under a new guise following its pre-packaged administration last month.
The unified comms distributor went into administration on 18 September, but was on the same day acquired by Marana Consultancy Ltd, an administrator’s Statement of Proposals filed on Companies House confirms.
Now the Lancashire-based outfit is trading again under the Trust UC banner, with its website offering products from vendors including Mitel, NEC, Panasonic, Yeastar and Ascom.
Mitel debts
Mitel moved to appoint Trust Distribution as its sole distributor in 2011 as it switched from a one- to a two-tier channel model.
The Canadian UC vendor accounted for around half of Trust’s annual sales in the years leading up to its demise, according to the administrator’s Statement of Proposals.
Trust’s revenues stood at £12.8m in its fiscal 2022, down from £15.3m a year earlier.
Mitel’s decision in 2022 to stop producing one of its key products, the MiVoice 250 phone system, dented Trust’s top line by an estimated £6.5m, the report stated.
The vendor then reduced the product margin across its remaining product lines from 14% to 9%, it went on to explain.
Upon its fall into administration, Trust owed Mitel £1.9m. This debt stood at around £4m at its peak, with Trust paying Mitel an additional amount to reduce the debt each time it sold a product.
In July 2024, Trust’s directors concluded that repaying the Mitel debt was placing too much strain on the business, and ceased selling Mitel products.
BDO was appointed as administrator on 18 September, following a one-month ‘Accelerated Mergers & Acquisitions’ process that encompassed 45 potential private equity and 31 trade buyers. Some 11 NDAs were signed, with two offers made by 6 September.
Sale to Trust UC
Marana Consultancy Ltd acquired the business for a total consideration of £387,000, according to the administrator’s statement of proposals.
The sale involved the transfer of 16 employees from the company to Marana Consultancy Ltd, which has since been renamed Trust UC Ltd.
Owned by former Trust Distribution owners Jane and Vincent Leahy, Trust UC Ltd describes itself on its website as a “100% channel focused distributor”.
Mitel moved to appoint Nimans as a second UK distributor in August 2023.
A Mitel representative said it “does not comment on this kind of news”. Nimans also declined to comment, while Trust UC and BDO had failed to respond to our requests for comment at the time of publication.
