Exertis is reinventing itself as a specialist distributor in B2B, in a move hastened by the loss of its PC contracts with Dell and Lenovo.
Through its new Exertis Business division, the DCC-owned distributor will now focus on five specialists B2B pillars, namely AV, components, mobile, print and IT solutions.
The move comes after Exertis lost access to Dell’s core portfolio on 1 May and was served notice by Lenovo in the summer (the duo’s partnership won’t formally stop until the end of February 2025).
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen, Jamie Brothwell – who is spearheading the strategy as the new MD of Exertis Business – described the two events as an “inflexion point” for the move.
“It was always the plan for us to go down this route. But we probably brought it forwards by 12 months as a result of what’s happened,” she said.
“Being open, we probably fell in the middle between a TD Synnex, Ingram and Westcoast, and a specialist. And, actually, the areas where we’ve been winning are specialist.
“I think Exertis needed to take a different direction of travel. And I truly believe that this is what will establish Exertis in the channel for what we need to be known as.”
New specialist focus
DCC Technology – the formal name for Exertis – saw UK revenues hit £1.65bn in its year to 31 March 2024, according to FTSE 100 parent DCC’s annual report.
Its UK business encompasses not only Exertis Business and Exertis Consumer (which is being headed up by Jonathan Sutherland) but also Exertis Enterprise (the old Hammer business) and a number of other brands that run independently (including Hypertec, MTR and Exertis Supplies).
While traditionally “PC centric”, Exertis Business has in recent years made inroads into new segments including print/copier, peripherals and AV, Brothwell said.
“We’ve had a very good year with AV, and had a very good year last year. [AV, components, mobile, print] are all growing for us,” she explained.
“Then we have IT solutions, which is a work in progress.
“The other four are all very well established, so effectively we’re taking resource we’ve had previously in the core, that was perhaps more PC focused, and are doubling down on the specialisms in those four pillars.”
Thanks to its continuing partnerships with the likes of Acer and Asus, Exertis Business has not exited the PC space altogether, Brothwell stressed.
“We’ve still got a presence within PC; we’ve got a very significant TFT business; we’ve got an accessories and peripheral business. So [IT solutions] is still sizable area of our organisation. It’s just how we position that to best support the IT channel,” she said.
“We don’t want to be a broadliner”
Brothwell, who joined Exertis ten years ago following a decade at rival Midwich, said Exertis’ move could in some ways be seen as a case of “history repeating itself”.
“When [Midwich Group MD Stephen Fenby] joined Midwich in 2004, Exertis Micro-P as it was at the time and Midwich were identical businesses: both were IT distributors. Stephen took the decision to completely pull out of PC in 2005 to become more focused on AV.
“We’ve not done that. But ultimately we’re focusing more on our specialisms, which I believe will yield a far greater return and focused approach for our customers than a generic broadline approach. We don’t want to be a broadliner.
“Despite challenging market conditions, we’ve seen growth in our specialist pillars. So we’re investing more resource and people in those areas.
“We’ve got ambitious growth plans and believe this structure will set us up for the future. I want to look back in another ten years and say ‘we became the leading specialist distributor in the UK’.”
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
