TSG snares new sales director

Graham Wylie-owned VAR enlists former Nokia and THUS man Gerry Duffy to head sales efforts

Technology Services Group (TSG), the VAR owned by Sage founder Graham Wylie, has enlisted a new sales boss to steer the next phase of its growth.

Gerry Duffy joined the Newcastle-based firm as group sales director on Monday, replacing Jim Henderson, who retires later this spring.

At the same time, TSG chief technology officer Steve Cox has taken on a new role as chief operating officer.

Cox acknowledged that changes in the way vendors supply – and SMBs consume – IT are reshaping the traditional VAR model. The management shake-up is designed to best position TSG for this new era, he said.

During his near-30-year career in the IT industry, Duffy has held a number of senior roles at Nokia and was sales director for THUS.

"[The industry] is going through a transformational shift and we were looking for someone who had experienced that before," Cox told CRN.

"Gerry has led teams to do this in previous roles in his career and we felt he was a really good fit to take us to the next phase of growth."

Cox said his role change reflects the fact he is now dealing not only with product strategy but also service delivery and support. TSG also recently took on the former head of the SageOne development team, Mat Peck, as research and development director. He will report to Cox.

Five hundred-strong TSG turned over £42.3m last year and counts Microsoft, Sage, HP, Sophos and Zen Internet among its key vendor partners. It targets firms with up to 250 employees.

"We are focused on being the number-one supplier of IT, telecoms and business applications for SMEs across the UK," he said.

Founded in 2003 by Sage doyen Graham Wylie, TSG grew rapidly through a series of quick-fire acquisitions in the early noughties.

It has recently re-entered the M&A fray, making four acquisitions in 2010 and 2011, and Cox said the firm is looking to make further purchases this year.