Arrow planning to shut two UK offices
Staff informed yesterday of proposals to close Nottingham and Theale as distributor moves to streamline UK business
Scores of staff at Arrow ECS were put on redundancy notice yesterday as the global distributor announced plans to shut its Nottingham and Theale offices, CRN understands.
According to sources, Arrow told staff that it plans to close the Theale office in January and its larger Nottingham site in March, with 66 roles put at risk.
Arrow confirmed the proposed closures, saying the move reflects recent acquisitions and would enable it to "serve customers and vendors alike with more efficiency", but would not comment on the details.
US-based Arrow recorded revenues of $5.97bn (£4.87bn) in Q2, with Arrow ECS - its enterprise computing arm - contributing $2.14bn, flat year on year.
One employee in the Nottingham office, which Arrow gained through its 2010 acquisition of security VAD Sphinx, told CRN that 40 of the 83 staff working there are being let go, with the others being given the option of working from home or relocating to Newmarket or Harrogate. A further 26 staff in Theale are also being let go, he added.
Although the Nottingham office has its heritage in IT security, we were told it carries out a broad range of functions, including marketing, consultancy and account management.
One onlooker thought most of the roles affected are in the spheres of quote and configuration, and account management.
As CRN reported, Arrow announced plans in September to close its small office in Stockport amid rumblings that the distributor is considering nearshoring some back-office functions to Poland. Many of the Stockport staff have since been taken on by rival distributors including Tech Data and Exclusive Networks.
The rationalisation leaves Arrow with four UK and Ireland sales offices - Harrogate, Newmarket, London and Dublin.
The cuts come shortly after the departure of Arrow's UK sales director Denise Bryant and just a few months after its UK boss, Nick Thurlow, left the business. The UK is now being run by France-based Arrow ECS executive Jesper Trolle.
In a statement to CRN, Arrow said: "Arrow's enterprise computing solutions business has seen quite a significant expansion and development in the UK throughout the past years. Based on several successful acquisitions the number of sales offices grew to a total of six.
"In view of this set-up and following the successful integration of all added businesses, Arrow's UK enterprise computing solutions management are proposing the closure of the offices in Nottingham and Theale in order to streamline its go-to-market approach and to serve customers and vendors alike with more efficiency."
Graham Jones, UK managing director at Exclusive Networks, hoped most staff affected would find work elsewhere "because the market is buoyant".
"This is sad, because we are talking about people's jobs. But most people who are any good won't have any problem getting other jobs. It's a failure of management when this happens. This market is moving so fast, you have to be agile."