Incoming Nuvias boss clear on distributor's value

The incoming CEO of Nuvias has stated his belief that there is plenty of room for growth in the distribution for those that can help both vendors and resellers navigate through a changing market.

Simon England will step into the hot seat at Nuvias next month but is already getting to grips with the challenge ahead and finding out more about the business.

His immediate task is to get to know Nuvias and use the support of current CEO Paul Eccleston to gain the time to talk to staff and understand the business before formally jumping into the hot seat at the start of next month.

"I am on my listening journey and I am focusing on connecting to people to understand what's going on and getting my bearings and shape my own understanding of what's going on so we can move on picking things up from where they are, not where I assume them to be," he said.

England and Ecclestone worked together around the SDG acquisition by Tech Data and so he comes into the role with a deep understanding not only of the distribution landscape but also with previous relationships with most of the leadership team at Nuvias.

Although he has not yet started as CEO England already has a clear idea of what makes a distributor valued in the market and what sort of approach the firm will continue to take under his leadership.

"The number one value add that a vendor wants from a high value distribution organisation today is to really help them through a change in channels, a change in IT consumption models and a change in how people actually go out there and sell," he said.

"The core emphasis of providing value is very much tied towards helping tap into growth markets and enabling opportunities by adding services and to help people be part of a larger solution," he added.

England said that there was a move towards more system integration as it tried to make it easier for vendors to be part of a bigger sale and for resellers to provide customers with a package of services that met their needs.

"I believe distribution has to be great at the basics but the real value add that is looked for now is well tuned to the way that Nuvias has been set up," he said.

England has a CV that not only includes time at Tech Data in various roles, including most recently the svp nextgen technologies & specialist VAD business EMEA, but also spells at Comstor and Ingram Micro.