Meet the 25 largest distributors in the UK

Exclusive research from CPI and IT distribution database ChannelHub reveals the top players in the UK market

The UK's top 25 distributors generate collective sales of £11.31bn, according to research conducted by CRN's sister publication Channel Partner Insight (CPI).

The 25 largest UK distributors collectively increased their revenues by 11 per cent year on year based on latest available financial accounts, outgrowing France (2.23 per cent), Germany (7.08 per cent), Italy (4.96 per cent) and Spain (9.12 per cent).

Just five of the top 25 suffered revenue declines in their latest financial years, with one posting flat year-on-year revenues and the remaining 19 enjoying growth.

One distributor grew revenues by a staggering 87 per cent, while another was mired by a 32 per cent sales decline.

The top five players in the UK account for a staggering £7.98bn (71 per cent) of the total revenues generated by the top 25.

These five are more dominant in the UK than most of the European countries we looked at. In France, the top five distributors turn over €5.78bn, accounting for 64 per cent of the top 25's revenues. In Germany, the top five also account for 64 per cent, while this falls to just 57 per cent in Spain.

The exception is Italy, where the top five distributors turn over €5.41bn, accounting for 72 per cent of the revenues generated by the top 25.

Our findings include firms in all areas of IT distribution, including smartphone distributors, electronic component players and those working across consumer and retail IT.

All research was compiled by Channel Partner Insight, ChannelHub and Channelpartner.es

See the top 25 distributors in the UK below.

You can view a list of the top 25 distributors in France here, and in Italy here.

25) Northamber - £58.14m

Surrey-based Northamber claims to be the longest-established trade-only IT equipment distributor in the UK, having been in business since 1980.

The distributor posted £58.14m revenues in its full year ending 30 June 2018, down one per cent year on year.

24) QBS (including GNR Technology, QBS Distribution and Zedsphere) - £58.22m

QBS' UK business is an amalgamation of three distributors: QBS Distribution, Zedsphere and GNR Technology.

The firm recently moved into the French market by snapping up Sienar Informatique - a player with 10 employees.

Managing director Dave Stevinson said expanding into France would help it sell to key customers such as Computacenter, SCC and Insight.

Factoring in acquisitions made in 2018 and 2019, QBS' revenues shot up by 87 per cent in 2017 to £61.15m.

23) New Way International - £61.21m

Mobile phone and accessory distributor New Way International is a team of 50 based in Middlesex.

Revenues tumbled in 2018 by 32 per cent year on year to £61.21m, but the firm managed to reduce its losses from £3.22m to £296,645.

22) IML Direct (Intec Micros Ltd) - £68.80m

Founded in 2003, Birmingham-based IML Direct claims to stock around £7m in discounted IT hardware, selling to about 2,500 customers.

IML also operates across Europe, with sales offices in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

21) Ci Distribution - £70.38m

The distribution venture of public sector reseller Centerprise, Ci Distribution sells AV, components, peripherals, consumables and other products from its offices in Basingstoke and Telford.

We don't know the turnover of the Ci Distribution business, so we've had to use Centerprise's total revenues as our headline figure of £70.38m for 2018, a three per cent increase on 2017.

Meet the 25 largest distributors in the UK

Exclusive research from CPI and IT distribution database ChannelHub reveals the top players in the UK market

20) Sahara AV Distribution - £72.64m

AV distributor Sahara AV distribution has been in business for more than 35 years. The Kent-based firm also sells its own-brand products, claiming its Clevertouch Plus range has a 40 per cent market share in the interactive touchscreen market.

Revenues increased by 21 per cent in 2017, according to our data, to £72.64m.

19) Eurostar Global Electronics Ltd - £78.27m

This UK-based smartphone distributor works with leading brands including Xiaomi, Apple, Huawei, Nokia and Samsung among many others. The firm has been in business since 2007 and operates from Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire.

It now has 57 full-time staff and turned over £78.27m in 2018, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year.

18) VIP Computer Centre - £89.38m

Cheshire-based components, gaming and IT distributor VIP Computer Centre has been in business since 1990. It works with manufacturers including AMD, Intel, Microsoft, Bullguard, Razer, ASUS, AOC, Gigabyte, BenQ and MSI.

Revenues were £89.38m for its year ending 30 June 2018, down six per cent on the previous year.

17) Elite Mobile - £90.30m

Mobile phone and accessories wholesaler Elite mobile claims to be the longest-serving telco distributor in the UK. It partners with operators including Vodafone, Giffgaff, O2 and EE. Revenues fell by one per cent to £90.30m for its latest full-year accounts until December 2017.

16) Nimans - £124.94m

Nimans claims to be the UK's largest telecommunications and data distribution specialist. It employs around 200 staff and is based in Manchester.

Revenues grew by a staggering 36 per cent in its year ending 31 December 2018 to £124.94m.

Meet the 25 largest distributors in the UK

Exclusive research from CPI and IT distribution database ChannelHub reveals the top players in the UK market

15) UFP UK - £140.46m

The UK divisions of this French print distributor are comparatively much lower than its domestic and German arms, which turn over €330m and €465.37m respectively.

The UK business was just a £140.40m-revenue operation in 2017, up 12 per cent on the previous year.

14) Nuvias UK - £151.45m

Pan-EMEA VAD Nuvias has made a spate of vendor signings of late, including Gigamon, Poly and a deeper tie-up with Juniper.

Ex-Tech Data man Simon England took over as CEO this year, replacing Paul Eccleston who moves to an executive chairman position.

UK revenues skyrocketed in 2018, by 66 per cent, to £151.45m.

13) Data Select - £156.14m

Although Data Select's core business is mobile phones, it also sells drones as well as VR and AR devices. Its latest vendor signing was Chinese smartphone vendor Oppo.

Revenues were flat year on year at £156.14m.

12) Arrow Electronics UK - £197.44m

The UK arm of American components and semiconductor giant Arrow Electronics is a £197m sales operation, a seven per cent increase on the previous year.

Arrow Electronics recently announced that it will shut down its IT asset disposition business in Europe and the US as the distributor posted a Q2 that fell below expectations.

11) VOW Europe - £268.39m

Starting off as a stationery wholesaler as early as 1852, VOW Europe now sells anything from printers, scanners, AV and PCs to furniture and kitchenware.

Sales fell by eight per cent to £268.39m in its latest available financial year in 2017.

Meet the 25 largest distributors in the UK

Exclusive research from CPI and IT distribution database ChannelHub reveals the top players in the UK market

10) Exclusive Group UK - £299.09m

VAD poster boy Exclusive Group maintained its lightning growth rate in 2018 with UK sales rocketing by 33 per cent to £299.09m.

The security distributor made Israel its latest expansion play after acquiring SecureWave earlier this year. The move followed another geographic swoop just weeks later in Canada through its acquisition of FineTec.

9) Midwich - £315.80m

Although mainland Europe has been the main focus of this AV player, it hasn't stepped off the gas in its home market. UK revenues surged by 11 per cent in 2017 to £315.80m.

8) CMS Distribution (including Widget) - £342.00m

This acquisitive pan-European player had a barnstorming 2017, with UK revenues leapfrogging 37 per cent to £342.00m. It surpassed €500m in global sales the same year.

7) CentreSoft - £342.30m

Video game distributor CentreSoft is a team of 250 employees based in Birmingham. Sales grew by 26 per cent in 2017 to £342.30m in 2017.

6) Arrow ECS UK - £351.00m

Revenues shot up by 13 per cent to £351m for the infrastructure arm of Arrow in 2017. The firm forged a relationship with Nutanix last year across several European countries.

Meet the 25 largest distributors in the UK

Exclusive research from CPI and IT distribution database ChannelHub reveals the top players in the UK market

5) Westcon UK - £456.87m

The UK arm of unified comms and networking distributor Westcon is a £456.87m giant. It was selected as a Poly distributor this year following the merger between Polycom and Panasonic.

Westcon's Americas business was sold off to US competitor Synnex in 2017. It also sold a minority stake in its EMEA and APAC business.

Revenues declined by four per cent for its year ending February 2019.

4) Ingram Micro UK - £1.27bn

The world's largest IT distributor has to settle for fourth place in the UK. It displayed impressive growth in its latest available full-year accounts, when revenues jumped by 25 per cent to £1.27bn.

Ingram has been owned by Chinese conglomerate HNA since 2016, but widespread rumours emerged at the end of last year that it was looking to offload the IT distributor for a reported $7.5bn.

3) Westcoast UK - £1.84bn

Westcoast's domestic business thrived in 2017, its latest available year, with revenues climbing by eight per cent to £1.84bn.

The distributor recently opened a new warehouse in Hampshire - its largest facility to date at 340,000 square feet.

Its MD, Alex Tatham, has publicly urged vendors and other distributors to stockpile kit in preparation for a potential no-deal Brexit, and has increased Westcoast's capacity "significantly".

2) Exertis UK- £1.94bn

Anglo-Irish distributor Exertis has turned its gaze internationally this year. It acquired two European firms - Germany's Comm-Tec and the Netherlands' Amacom - in May this year, adding €250m in revenues to its continental Europe business. It then set up shop in Spain through its Hammer brand.

It also holds ambitions to become a sizable entity in the US market. Its parent company, DCC, is now a $600m-revenue player in North America thanks to two large acquisitions.

Meet the 25 largest distributors in the UK

Exclusive research from CPI and IT distribution database ChannelHub reveals the top players in the UK market

1) Tech Data UK - £2.47bn

Tech Data stands heads and shoulders above its nearest UK competitor. The distributor finally integrated its acquired Avnet TS business in the UK at the end of 2017.

Despite a positive performance from its UK business, where revenues grew by six per cent in its year ending January 2018 to £2.47bn, its wider European division is showing signs of weakness.

For its Q4 ending January 2019, European revenues were flat, and revenues began to decline in its Q1, which CEO Rich Hume blamed on currency fluctuations, Brexit, PC market softness and US-China trade tension.