ScanSource Partner Tour thrills UK resellers

Adam Parker and Stuart Wood of Rallye Communications together with ScanSource Communications Sales Manager Kim Jennings. Stuart Wood won fastest lap in the Jaguar P1 category and was driver of the day overall.

Comms Business Magazine attended the UK leg of the ScanSource Europe Partner Tour in June to see over 300 people packed into a specially-built marquee in the grounds of the PalmerSport racing complex in Bedfordshire. The event was targeted at resellers from the Communications and Auto ID business – and both groups showed out in force.

PalmerSport, the motorsport venue created by ex-Formula One driver Jonathan Palmer, contains four different circuits and over 5 miles of track. Partner Tour attendees were able to drive some of the world’s greatest high performance cars seriously hard, as expert instructors encouraged them to push right to the limit.

As well as trying out their racing skills, attendees were treated to a keynote speech from Palmer himself, and had the chance to network with vendors, ScanSource employees and each other in the exhibition area, before a barbecue dinner and the chance to watch some World Cup football!

The exhibition area, which took place in the marquee, was home to more than 30 different booths: best-of-breed vendor partners from the Auto ID and Communications spheres, as well as a selection of Independent Software Vendors.

“The scale of the event shows what ScanSource is capable of,” said John Howard, Managing Director EMEA, ShoreTel. “As a unique event in the market, it was a great opportunity for us to meet with a large number of resellers and we look forward to developing some new business relationships.”

“This gathering of the UK reseller community enabled fantastic networking, with all attendees sharing experiences and swapping market information,” said Mel Taylor, EMEA Channel Director, Intermec. “The whole day was helped by the wonderful English weather and the excellent motor sport entertainment laid on by ScanSource and the vendor sponsors.”

“The Partner Tour was a good blend of customers and partners in an inspiring venue that facilitated networking,” commented Kim Gasson, Partnership Director & Product Owner, BT Global Services. “I’ve been to trade shows with less people.”

“The Partner Tour is all about bringing resellers and vendors together and making business easy,” said Kim Jennings, Sales Manager, ScanSource Communications Europe. “As well as giving people a memorable day out, we’re making sure that everybody is aware of the value we’re adding to the channel.”

“It’s always good to be reminded what ScanSource can offer in terms of stock, finance and online tools,” said Adrian Lawson, Business Development Director, Ryzex UK. “And if they can get all these people into racing cars in the same day, then I’m confident that they can look after the needs of my business too.”

Editor Comment

Like many people I was surprised at the extent of the turnout and the size of the event that ScanSource had organised. You clearly have to re-think the whole scale of what ScanSource is about these days and remember this is a BIG firm with equally large ambitions. I attended the product presentations from both the comms and auto ID sides of their business as I wanted to see where there were opportunities for both sides to enable their respective channel partners to cross sell each other’s core products. The message was clear – if you want to explore auto ID then ScanSource makes for an excellent partner.

ScanSource also had outstanding support from their supplier community. As John Howard of ShoreTel says, “The scale of the event shows what ScanSource is capable of…” It will now be interesting to see how the company can use this event as a launch pad in the UK.