Print.IT Reseller
eseller
.co.uk
25
Director Warren Colby told
PrintIT
Reseller
that the opportunity to set up
a North-East Sharp dealership was too
good to pass up. “As a team, we were
really focussed on customer service
and our strategy from day one was
to pick up new business by playing to
this strength,” he said.
“With Sharp, we had a great product
line to sell and had each over the years
built up strong relationships with lots of
local businesses, so we literally went out
and knocked on doors.”
It was a strategy that worked, as the
five founding partners achieved a £1m
turnover in their first year of trading.
In 1999, they acquired Carlton Business
Machines which also had an annual
turnover of around £1m. Merging the two
businesses involved adopting best practice
and processes and re-branding as United
Carlton Gateshead.
Continued growth
The company has enjoyed continued
growth year-on-year and today employs
over 100 staff who look after its 5,000+
accounts. According to Colby, customer
service remains its number one priority
and, as a result, client retention remains
consistently high. “One of the biggest
successes we celebrated in the early years
was when we were awarded a major
contract with Durham County Council. We
held this for 13 years and it firmly placed
us on the map within the education and
local government markets,” he said.
Expanding into new
regions and new markets
Merging
the two
businesses
involved
adopting
best
practice and
processes...
Managing Director of Hull-based Gemtec;
Shackleton will extend United Carlton’s
presence within commercial businesses, in
a wider geographical area that will include
Leeds and West Yorkshire.
Three-year plan
Turnover is now in excess of £15.5 million
per annum and according to Colby the
business has a three-year plan in place to
hit the £19m mark. “We will do this partly
through organic growth, but we do have
other plans in place to support this.”
United Carlton has invested heavily
in its infrastructure. “We’re putting a lot
of time and resource into marketing and
last year we spent around £130,000,”
Colby explained. “We’re launching a new
refreshed website, have invested in a
comprehensive CRM system and upgraded
and improved our IT systems for example,
all of which will provide us with the
platform to grow and expand.”
He added: “Our over-riding goal is to
replicate the successes enjoyed in both
our Gateshead and York businesses by
opening up new offices in other parts of
the country. We are one of Sharp’s top-
performing dealers and we also sell and
support Toshiba technology. Our service
footprint already extends nationally and
we’re confident that we can extend the
business in new regions.”
Colby hinted that the opening of the
next office in Manchester could potentially
take place in the first half of 2014.
Gateshead-headquartered United Carlton Office Systems Ltd was
established in 1996 after five colleagues spotted an opportunity to go
it alone when the company they all worked for was acquired by IKON
(later integrated into Ricoh’s business).
It was this experience that played a
pivotal role in United Carlton winning
the tender for East Riding of Yorkshire
County Council eight years ago. “This
included North-East Lincolnshire and North
Lincolnshire Councils. Even though we
didn’t have a physical presence in those
areas at that time, we were still selected as
the preferred supplier,” said Colby.
They opened a satellite office in Market
Weighton and employed four engineers,
two installation staff and an IT engineer on
day one to service that account. “It was an
initial five-year contract,” said Colby. “But
it was extended for a further two years and
we won it again in 2013.”
Commercial focus
With a goal to expand its reach into new
regions, four years ago United Carlton
opened an office in York. And last summer
it appointed Eric Shackleton as Regional
Sales Manager with a brief to develop and
drive a strategy to support the company’s
goal to gain a foothold within the
commercial sector. This included recruiting
a new team of commercial sales people
who are now in place.
Leveraging the wealth of experience
gained through his many years in the office
equipment business, most recently as
dealer profile
(l-r) The five
partners:
John Watson,
Mark Bryce,
John Ellis,
Warren Colby,
Michael Nelson
and Paul Dawson
