CCOOMMMMSS N NEEWWSS
Channel to the rescue
The Coronavirus situation is changing daily, at the time of writing Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak
had just offered up £350bn, in addition to the recent budget announced last month, to help businesses
through this tough time. Aid would be given in the form of loans, mortgage holidays and business rates relief.
I asked the Channel what they thought of these measures and how the Channel can help their customers
right now.
Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer
be e ected and what does that
mean for our businesses in the
long run?”
Nick Brandon, MD at tecworkuk:
“As I have said many times
recently, all of us (government,
business and individuals)
need to be asking more ‘What
if?’ questions and planning
accordingly. Fortunately, those
businesses that have moved with
technology are probably more
agile and can more easily deploy
stu in their business so they
can continue, albeit, slightly
di erently. Others not so.”
Matt Newing, Founder of Elite
Group:
“Businesses need big grants and
loans. It will then give them
the con dence to carry on
employing people. 50% Grant
and 50% loan. Make the loan
repayable over 10 years with a
rst year payment holiday.”
ED SAYS…
No one can predict what is going to happen
right now. I’ve spoken to resellers which are
holding back on investments in offi ce space and
staff in a bid to weather the storm. At the other
end of the spectrum I have seen those that are
optimistic given the need of technology right
now. The most important thing? Keep people
employed and help your customers where you
can. Several people have predicted this will be
a sea change for the way we work forever and I
completely agree.
Iain Sinnott, Sales and
Marketing Director at
VanillaIP:
“Ask not what your economy
can do for you but what you
can do for the economy. Our
rst job is to get as much of the
workforce settled in at home
with the basics and then we
need to help them master the
tools that make them more
productive. Virtual training,
training videos and clear guides
will help. For those businesses
that have a PBX locked back in
the o ce, a temporary Cloud
overlay service on 30-day terms
and some diverts could make
a big di erence. If you are
worried about sounding like
your pro teering don’t, you
have the power to help business
survive and as I just said to one
of my resellers, the ice cream
van doesn’t worry about taking
advantage of a really sunny
day, he just sticks the music on
because he knows people really
want and need an ice cream.”
Paul Gibbs, Sales Director at
MyPhones:
“ e Government needed to
move fast and I think they
have done a good job in an
unprecedented situation! For
technology resellers and vendors
it’s about what support they
are o ering your customers to
get them through this situation
as easily as possible. Resellers
are having to ask themselves
some very tough questions like
‘how much do we rely on one
o sales?‘ ‘Do we lease, and if
so what happens when the tap
turns o ?‘ ‘Will our nance
house survive?‘, ‘Does our
recurring revenue pay the bills?’
and nally ‘how vertically
dependant are we?‘… It’s going
to be a time of change in the
market with only the stronger
surviving! We mustn’t let the
obvious uplift in mobile, soft
phones and general attachment
sales detract from that,
although not immediate, the
net new sales of systems etc will
Iain Sinnott, Sales Director VanillaIP
14 | Comms Business Magazine | April 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk