Duncan Lindsay - Network Centre - Case Study
- 2. WHO WE ARE Networks Centre are a distributor of physical layer infrastructure products. In layman terms we are a supplier of network and cabling products that are used in the networks for offices, data centres, warehouses, schools, etc, it is basically what drives your PC’s, phones, Wi-Fi and CCTV cameras!
- 3. HISTORY We were founded in 2005 and have been trading for 13 years, in that time we have: • Grown to a turnover of £20mn with consistent year on year growth. • Hold over 1 million metres of fibre optic cable. • £2.5mn stock investment. • 45 staff. • Recently moved to a new 48k sq ft warehouse and office which we invested £1mn in to. • Completed our first acquisition of a competitor who turn over circa £4mn, 15 staff and 20K sq ft of warehouse based in the Midlands. • Opened a training school and are the only training school in Europe to hold a Global Data Centre Design accreditation.
- 4. TARGET Our target for the next 5 years is to grow the business to £40mn with our current product set. 10.5 12.3 13.4 16.9 20 26 30 34 37 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
- 6. VALUE ADDED SERVICES Environmental Packaging Consolidation Waste Removal Training BICSI Authorized Design Training Provider & Authorized Training Facility Tailored & Manufacturer Specific Courses Labelling Engraved Labels Wrap-around Cable Labels Hire, Lease and Support Managed Fleet Support Fusion Splicer Hire Test Equipment Hire Pre-Build Pre-terminated assemblies Bespoke Rack Configurations Customised Patch Panel Builds Design Visio Pathway & Rack Elevations Fibre Containment Design
- 7. • Enterprise • Colocation • Service Provider • Web scale • Hosting • Disaster Recovery • Manufacturing Plant • Harsh Environment • Energy & Transportation • Oil & Gas • IoT • Warehousing • Wide Area Network • Campus • Telecommunications • FTTH • Outside Broadcast • Military Tactile • Enterprise • SMB • Government • Finance • Education • Health MARKETS
- 8. ABOUT ME How did I get in to data cabling? • During my 20’s I worked as a water sports instructor in the Algarve and spent the winters skiing and various labouring jobs. • I needed a job and went to a Recruitment Agency, and got a job selling fibre optic cable and products. • Promoted to a sales manager within 14 months and headhunted a year later by a competitor to be a Sales Director. The initial company had good practices and stock but lacked customer driven service but the company who poached me lacked real infrastructure such as good practices!
- 9. HOW DID WE ACHIEVE THIS When I decided to set up Networks Centre, I realised for the business to grow and succeed we needed a solid infrastructure: Good location Good stock Good software
- 10. WHY KHAOS • Flexible • Reactive • Proactive • Friendly • It was sold to us the best!!! • All under one system.
- 11. WHAT ELSE WITH KHAOS • We are soon moving the business we have acquired on to Khaos and we are working on a project to modify Khaos to what we need which is 2 companies sharing stock with various parameters out of 2 locations, their flexibility has allowed us to do this…. they don’t say no. • The new business I have made the decision to not bother learning their software!
- 12. DEVELOPMENT REQUESTS • Structured prices taken from a mass buy. • 3 Businesses running together – so a stocking / finance / purchasing biz with 2 sales orgs running off of it independently. Completely bespoke. • CRM modifications. • Reporting functions such as batch. • AN Others
- 13. Ashington, West Sussex, RH20 3DJ 01403 754 233 enquiries@networkscentre.com
Editor's Notes
- #3: Networks Centre are a distributor of physical layer infrastructure products. In layman terms this is network and cabling products that are used in the networks for offices, data centres, warehouses, schools, etc, it is basically what drives your PC’s, phones, Wi-Fi and CCTV cameras!
- #4: We were founded in 2005 and have been trading for 13 years, in that time we have: Grown to a turnover of £22mn with consistent year on year growth. Hold over 1 million metres of fibre optic cable. £2.5mn stock investment. 45 staff. Recently moved to a new 48k sq ft warehouse and office which we invested £1mn in to. Completed our first acquisition of a competitor who turn over circa £4mn, 15 staff and 20K sq ft of warehouse based in the Midlands. Opened a training school and are the only training school in Europe to hold a Global Data Centre Design accreditation. Initially we were a distributor of fibre optic products but over the years we have evolved in to pretty much a full end to end distributor of all the products that are required in a network that are not ‘active’, e.g. Cisco, HP.
- #5: Our target for the next 5 years is to grow the business to £40mn with our current product set.
- #6: Some of our major clients are JLR / MS / Booking / Goldman Sachs to name but a few. We also deal with most of the major technology Companies. In 2007 we won our first major project and supplied all of the fibre optic cable outside of the stadium for the broadcasting at the Beijing Olympic Games.
- #7: As a business we are also evolving in to a solutions business, so we now deal in design, pre build (customers come on site to configure products), packaging consolidation, labelling and rentals. We try and differentiate from the competition by offering these services, sort of DAAS (Distribution as a service). Often these are trojan horses but these are the kind of things that attracts the attention of the customer.
- #8: Some of the markets we are involved in: Data Centres – clients such as major tech Companies, major finance companies. Commercial Buildings – again finance, health, education. Industrial Networks – manufacturing, warehouses, etc.
- #9: My background: During my 20’s I worked as a water sports instructor in the Algarve and spent the winters skiing. How did I get in to data cabling – I needed a job and went to a Recruitment Agency…. And got a job selling fibre optic cable and products. Was promoted to a sales manager within 14 months. Headhunted a year later by a competitor to be a Sales Director. Initial company had good practices and stock but lacked customer driven service. Sales were a cost rather than an asset. Company who poached me lacked real infrastructure such as good practices, all about a quick buck!
- #10: When I decided to set up NWC I realised for the business to grow and succeed we needed a solid infrastructure: Good location – near gatwick Good stock – not the cheapest Good software – make life easier.
- #11: Since then we haven’t looked back…. Was sold to me at my dining room table by Paul before we had the premises. Why Khaos – flexible, reactive, proactive, friendly, everything you could possibly want 😊. Previous companies they’d had multiple applications (ACT) a CRM, an accounting package (Sage) and a sales order package. Little things as well as you couldn’t have multiple screens open at once, you’d have to close one down which can lead to mistakes especially if you get side tracked and forget to go back to it.
- #12: We are soon moving the business we have acquired on to Khaos and we are working on a project to modify Khaos to what we need which is 2 companies sharing stock with various parameters out of 2 locations, their flexibility has allowed us to do this…. they don’t say no 😊. Initial plan was to do nothing for 6 months, but we realised the importance of good software that gives you reports instantly so we are moving to Khaos now! Before the devs are made!
- #13: Structured prices taken from a mass buy. 3 Businesses running together – so a stocking / finance / purchasing biz with 2 sales orgs running off of it independently. Completely bespoke. CRM modifications. Reporting functions such as batch. AN Others