Misco locks-in, loads-up sales director Remmington

They liked him so much, they brought him to the company

Misco has hired former Insight and Invicta IT exec Gary Remmington as UK sales director, El Chan can reveal.

The man recently left Slough-based reseller Invicta IT along with senior account handlers Wade van Essen - who is also joining the Misco sales floor - and Ben Cook.

Tony Brooker, UK boss at Misco, confirmed Remmington is joining to head up sales for corporate and SMB customers, replacing Stuart Wright, a senior sales manager who baby sat the role and will report to the newbie.

“This is the 100 to 500 seat segment of the market, we are getting lots of vendor support and Gary is part of that strategic growth plan,” he told us. Brooker and Remmington previously worked together at Insight, SCC and Micro Warehosue.

Remmington will be based in Misco's Weybridge office. Executive sales director Lee Duttin, who runs the public sector team is based in the Wellingborough branch and Mark Scanlon, is sales director at the Greenock office, which targets SME and corporate punters and the Scottish government space.

Under the guidance of EMEA president Simon Taylor, also a former Insight exec, Misco is trying to pull itself out of what some perceived to be a death spiral - sales had fallen in recent years under the previous leader and profits had evaporated.

Taylor is an operations man and by all accounts is using his skills to smooth over the cracks in the operation that sources told us had appeared.

Misco parent Systemax has sold its reseller business in North America, taking a $55m hit to do so, and there is a sense in the channel community on this side of the pond that the EMEA business may also be sold once it stabilises and results improve.

Over at Invicta, Remmington was one of a bunch of Insight people that CEO Michael Jacobs had recruited. Sources told us the exit of the trio was related to missed sales targets and that Invicta had perhaps overstretched itself in terms of expenses - both of these points were unconfirmed.

There were also suggestions Invicta had expected the account team hired to open up the book of customers they dealt with at Insight, but the reality had proved more complex.

Jacobs refused to comment. ®