Tech For Techs Gets the VIP Treatment

Jenni and Phil from Tech For Techs recently visited VIP to get a closer look at how one of the UKs leading IT distributors runs day to day.

The visit started in the boardroom with Brand Specialist - Cheryl Humberstone, Sales Director - Elliott Hodgeon and Ecommerce and Marketing Director - Elanza Butters. They talked through how VIP works with brands, how they support independent resellers across the UK, and how they balance the needs of both major retailers and smaller partners.

Next was a tour of the warehouse with Pawel Kozlowski, Head of Logistics. Pawel explained how the layout has been completely reworked. The packing team now sits right next to fast moving quick pick items like motherboards and graphics cards, with larger and bulkier products stored further away. There is also a separate area for Amazon fulfilment, kept apart from the main VIP stock so that orders for Amazon can be handled cleanly and at scale.

The warehouse shelving rises to around five levels high and holds roughly two thousand of the two thousand seven hundred live stock lines. Pawel also shared some performance numbers. A typical warehouse aims for about a 99.5% percent accuracy rate on orders. VIP is running at an impressive 99.98% percent, which is a huge achievement at the volume they handle.

From there, the visit moved up to the mezzanine to meet the Stormforce and Zoostorm team. Ian French, Production Manager for the PC division, talked through how the build area works. He has been involved with the Zoostorm side of the business for close to twenty four years and now runs the operation in more of an assembly line style.

One person fits the motherboard, another installs the processor and cooling, others handle cabling and finishing. The setup can cope with building a thousand systems to the same specification or a single bespoke custom build, depending on what is needed.

Testing was just as impressive. The team can put up to three hundred and sixty (six racks of sixty) systems on soak test at the same time using Eurosoft PC Builder™ Computer Diagnostic and Test Management Software. Instead of connecting each system with HDMI or DisplayPort, they test over Ethernet, which makes the process faster and easier to scale.

As standard, Stormforce and Zoostorm systems ship with a three-year parts and labour warranty. The return rate is around two to three percent, and Ian told us that a high percentage are user error rather than a fault with the system itself. On the benches, the builds showed neat cable routing and tidy finishes, the kind of machines any gamer or power user would be happy to own.

Back in the boardroom, VIP had laid on lunch, with a spread of sandwiches, finger food and drinks that added to the warm welcome. We were joined by Head of Sales - Craig Smith, Head of Distribution and Corporate - Callum Ward and Head of Etail, SI and Export - Ryan Linaker, along with Cheryl Humberstone and Elliott Hodgeon. Over lunch, the team went into more detail about how VIP works with brands and the wider channel.

VIP currently carries over forty brands. When they look at signing a new partner, the process usually takes between six weeks and six months, depending on what is involved. They look at profitability, returns agreements, product size and practicality, and customer demand. Just as important, they consider whether the brand will add value to VIP and its partners, and whether VIP can help that brand grow in return.

The Tech For Techs team also learned more about how VIP trades day to day. Around seventy five percent of VIPs reseller base are independent resellers, yet the orders from this demographic represent less than ten percent of total sales value, as the larger share of revenue comes from major retailers, etailers and SIs. VIP distributes for big names including Currys, Very, Amazon, Scan and Argos.

Most orders are still placed the traditional way. Around ninety percent come in via phone, email and Teams, with ten percent placed directly through the website. However, the number of customers self-serving on the website rose to 18% in November, following the implementation of supported pricing, improved navigation and other recent enhancements to the online experience, and they expect the number to grow at accelerated rates. On a typical day, VIP receives ten to eleven inbound deliveries and handles between seventy and one hundred and forty pallets of stock.

VIP was founded in 1990, trading from a shop on Edward Street in Salford. Within six years, they had outgrown the shop and moved to bigger premises with distribution facilities in Trafford Park.  It only took another six years to outgrow the Trafford Park site, with a need for even larger premises with better transport links, and VIP found its permanent home in Warrington in 2002. The majority of employees are based on site, with only a small number working remotely. That gives the building a busy, energetic feel that stands out in a time when many companies have moved to hybrid working.

“Everyone we met at VIP was polite, open and clearly proud of the work they do,” said Jenni Griffiths, Managing Director of Tech For Techs Group Ltd. “From the warehouse to the Stormforce and Zoostorm build area and back to the boardroom, there was a real sense of passion for serving both the big names and the independent resellers that keep our industry moving. We left with a smile and look forward to visiting the team again soon.” Website - https://www.vip-computers.com/uk/ Set up an Account - https://applications.vip-computers.com/