30 April 2018 – ITEC, Copyrite and Criterion have announced their intention to merge their three companies into a single business to serve customers on the South Coast in Dorset and Hampshire as well as nationally.
The merger creates a powerful technology company with 3,500 existing customers, 300 staff and annual sales of £45 million. The new combined company, which includes Copyrite’s wholly owned IT services subsidiary Criterion, will be known simply as ITEC from 25th June.
Copyrite’s existing Wimborne office will remain in place as the expanded hub for Dorset and Hampshire, bringing together engineering and account management resources from the two companies into one location. Copyrite’s Directors, Ian Stewart and Phil Ford, will together head the ITEC business on the South Coast.
The merger brings together two existing operations that are already strong and successful in their own right. ITEC provides agile managed print, IT, VoIP and document capture technology, expertly deployed and supported for smarter business outcomes. Copyrite is a total document solutions provider, offering managed print services, business software, IT managed services and web solutions.
In a joint statement, ITEC’s CEO Nick Orme and Copyrite Director Ian Stewart commented: “Our vision is to build a technology powerhouse to serve customers across the South Coast, the South West and beyond. The goal is to help organisations become more agile and deploy technology in ways that maximise efficiency and enable smarter working.”
Nick Orme and Ian Stewart identified three main factors underpinning the merger:
- With an improved buying power of the new combined company, ITEC will be able to deliver even better value to its customers.
- The new company will benefit from complementary skill-sets. For example, existing Copyrite customers will now have access to Data Centre, Unified Communications and hybrid mail solutions from ITEC, while ITEC customers will be able to tap into the software development expertise of Copyrite’s subsidiary Criterion.
- Both companies place a premium on locally-based customer service, and both have an outstanding record for customer retention. The merger brings new scale to operations while ensuring the ‘local touch’ commitment remains at the very core.
The human touch
Ian Stewart added: “From a local perspective this merger creates a very strong IT company in Dorset and Hampshire with the capacity to support the needs of even the largest and most complex customers in this region. We believe this is good news for businesses on the South Coast.”
Nick Orme explained: “This merger puts in place a very strong presence on the South Coast, alongside ITEC’s existing footprint in Bristol, Devon, Cornwall, Manchester and Somerset. The companies coming together in this merger are very aligned in terms of our values, our business models and our culture.”
Behind the facts and figures is a human story. Nick Orme, Ian Stewart and Phil Ford have known each other as friends and occasionally competitors for 20 years. Now, a sense of shared values and future goals has become a driving force behind the merger. Nick Orme remains in place as the CEO of the newly enlarged ITEC, while Ian Stewart and Phil Ford join the main ITEC board.
About ITEC:
ITEC provides agile managed print, IT, VoIP and document capture technology, expertly deployed and supported for smarter business outcomes. With a focus on tailored support and service, ITEC helps organisations achieve more from their technology.
ITEC has offices and facilities in Bournemouth, Bridgwater (Somerset), Bristol, Exeter, London, Reading, Manchester, Plymouth and Redruth (Cornwall).