Jump to content

Westcoast Limited

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Westcoast Limited
Company typeLimited
IndustryComputing
Founded1984
FounderJoe Hemani[1]
HeadquartersTheale, Reading, United Kingdom[2]
Key people
)
Sunil Madhani (finance director)
Revenue£2.5bn [3][1]
Number of employees
1600[1][3]
Websitewww.westcoast.co.uk

Westcoast Limited, also known as Westcoast Group, provides IT products and services, including storage systems, servers and workstations.[4] It provides goods and services business to business and to the education sector.[5][6] In 2021, Westcoast became the largest IT distributor in the United Kingdom.[7]

Established in 1984, the Westcoast Group remains privately held with its distributor arm, Westcoast Limited, distributing leading IT brands such as HP, HPE, Microsoft, Lenovo, Apple, and many others to a broad range of resellers, retailers and office product dealers in the UK and beyond.[8]

Westcoast Limited has grown to become the number one UK distributor for many vendors and customers. The Westcoast Group employs more than 1,600 people across a number of locations in the UK, Ireland and Europe.

Westcoast Limited was the largest privately owned company in the Thames Valley before being a merger with European distributor ALSO group was announced in July 2024

History

[edit]

The company was founded in 1984 in Reading, United Kingdom.[9]

Orion Media Marketing, printer consumables distributor was acquired in 2005.[10]

In 2006, the company bought Irish IT distributors Clarity.

XMA merger

[edit]

Westcoast merged with XMA, a printer consumables distributor, in 2008. However, no operations were consolidated and XMA continued as a distinct brand and entity.[11] XMA also had a distribution centre in Milton Keynes.[12]

The XMA operation was merged with Viglen in 2014.[13][14]

Westcoast bought Nottingham, UK based ArtSystems in 2016. The company supply 3d printing equipment.[15][16]

By 2017, XMA had a turnover of £350m.[17]

Operations

[edit]

Westcoast distributes to the UK and Ireland from its centres in Reading, Nottingham, Andover, Milton Keynes and Europe. It has a data centre in Wales.[18]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Media, Insider. "IT firm secures £225m funding package". Insider Media Ltd.
  2. ^ "Westcoast Limited: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com.
  3. ^ a b Waite, Jon (15 November 2017). "GiG UK".
  4. ^ "Westcoast Announces Purchase Of Clarity Distribution, Ireland".
  5. ^ "Exclusive: Westcoast aiming to be the UK largest B2B hardware distributor by 2020 - Mobile News Online | Mobile News Online". 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  6. ^ Allsopp, Josh (12 October 2017). "Westcoast reveals cloud business boom | OPI - Office Products International". Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  7. ^ Woodburn, Doug (7 June 2021). "'The only instruction Joe ever gave me was to grow the damn thing' - Alex Tatham on Westcoast becoming UK's largest IT distributor". CRN.
  8. ^ "About us". www.westcoast.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  9. ^ "WESTCOAST LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.
  10. ^ "WestCoast buckles up Orion deal". www.theregister.co.uk.
  11. ^ "Westcoast completes XMA merger". The Register.
  12. ^ "Xma Ltd". Cylex UK.
  13. ^ Ltd, Insider Media. "Viglen merger boosts sales at XMA".
  14. ^ "Westcoast Group shuffles management deck". The Register.
  15. ^ "Westcoast snaps up Nottingham-based distie ArtSystems".
  16. ^ "Westcoast makes 'game-changing' 3D print acquisition | CRN". www.channelweb.co.uk. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  17. ^ Ltd, Insider Media. "Turnover surges to £350m at XMA".
  18. ^ "Westcoast prepares for hybrid working economy with Dell Technologies partnership".