Bechtle acquires UK’s Qolcom

The deal brings Bechtle UK’s headcount to 370

German reseller Bechtle today announced its acquisition of Newbury-based IT specialist Qolcom Limited (Qolcom).

Qolcom is a systems integrator of digital workplace solutions, intelligent network infrastructure and cybersecurity.

The company achieved revenues of €30m (£25.16m) in the last fiscal year.

Keith Reading, CEO and founder of Qolcom, will remain with the company as general manager.

“We are looking forward to our future together, which will offer exciting development opportunities for our employees as well,” said Reading.

The brand will remain unchanged initially.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

Shared win and enhanced expansion

Qolcom’s sale to Bechtle falls within the company’s ambition to drive growth under the umbrella of a large international group.

For Bechtle, the addition of Qolcom provides increased market share, an larger headcount, and the ability to synergise and mesh portfolios to spur additional growth, especially when expanding further in the network-as-a-service (NaaS) space.

This marks Bechtle’s third British acquisition in two years, after ACS Systems in November 2022 and Tangible Benefit in March 2023.

But the German IT service provider isn’t a newcomer to the UK market, having been present in the country for over 26 years.

With sites in Manchester, Northampton, Chippenham and London (obtained through the acquisition of Tangible Benefit), Qolcom’s 44 employees brings Bechtle’s UK headcount to 370.

“The Qolcom team’s knowledge, expertise and strong customer and vendor relationships will add significant strength to Bechtle UK’s position in the mid-market, enterprise and public sector networking and security space,” said James Napp, MD at Bechtle UK.

Beyond the UK, the German reseller enjoys a strong presence in Europe, by being established in 14 different European countries and counts a network of partners extending to every continent.

This year, the reseller has acquired Italian IT solutions provider MMN and Spanish Apple reseller iDoo Tech.

The German IT service provider has also deployed Copilot for Microsoft 365 to sites across the 14 European countries it operates.