Exertis extends £10m in credit to AV partners

Exertis has increased the support it is prepared to offer its profession audiovisual (AV) partners, after significantly increasing the credit funds they can tap into.

The distributor is making an additional £10m of credit available to partners, which comes at a time when its ProAV division has rolled out a number of bundles aimed at those home working or using meeting rooms and huddle spaces.

The AV industry has been hit quite hard by the coronavirus, with offices being closed and videoconferencing switching from boardroom-based devices to phones and webcams, and fellow audiovisual specialist Midwich revealed on 8 September that its H1 numbers have been affected by the pandemic.

The firm was also keen to stress that there continued to be optimism in the AV world, and – as more people returned to work – the hybrid-office could well benefit those that are able to design, supply and maintain collaboration and conferencing experiences.

Ian Aitken, director of Exertis Pro AV, said that the past few months had created problems and that was the reason for it increasing the credit available.

“It’s been a difficult time for the AV industry, where some installations of new equipment have been postponed or cancelled due to the economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, social distancing measures in place have also prevented some projects from being fulfilled,” he said.

He echoed the views expressed by Midwich around the long-term strength in the market: “We are certain that the industry will bounce back stronger than ever. To help our loyal customers over this difficult period, we are pleased to provide extra credit to help them do just that.”

The distributor has launched four bundles – To Go (home working), Huddle (small room / huddle space), Meet (medium room) and Board (large room) – to cover the remote working market and the three sizes of meeting rooms that could be used by customers.

“Moreover, the collaboration market remains an opportunity and due to the success of our solutions bundles, we have introduced several more options featuring products from our market-leading portfolio,” said Aitken.

“Our Interactive and Collaboration Solutions team is available to help our resellers ensure their customers have a range of options to help their remote workers become more productive, and for their meeting spaces to meet the demands of the modern workplace with better technology,” he added.

Exertis reported that the additional credit had been welcomed by its customers.

Throughout the pandemic, the broader channel community of both vendors and distributors has grasped the importance of keeping credit flowing.

As an example, Dell extended an additional $9bn of credit to partners in April in recognition that its channel would need to access funds to keep the wheels of commerce turning, and to encourage customers to greenlight investments.