Vodafone platinum partner has been tasked with driving organic growth at UC provider a year on from acquisition
CommsXchange managing director Ross Cooper has been tasked with helping parent company GCI reach £100 million turnover within the next few years, after being handed a role overseeing organic growth at the unified communications provider.
The Vodafone Platinum Partner became GCI’s 19th acquisition in 11 years when it was snapped up last September in a multi-million pound deal, with Cooper staying on to oversee the mobile dealer while also adding group sales responsibilities in May.
The new role sees Cooper in control of more than 50 sales staff, on top of the 15 staff employed at CommsXchange, with a target of increasing revenue by £40 million within two years.
Cooper said: “We are targeting to surpass £100 million turnover and on course to achieve that. We have plans to be a serious force in the Comms and ICT sector delivering small to high end enterprise solutions with unrivalled levels of support, consultancy and service.
“It’s a straightforward formula for us and everyone within the business is focused on delivering results. Every one of the GCI force is working towards a common objective. This, and the performance of all 250-plus GCI team members, will be the key to achieving all of our targets and ambitions as a business.”
Strategy
Cooper founded CommsXchange with partner David Bennett, of Evolution Telco, in 2011. Bennett left the company in January following the acquisition.
GCI had a reported turnover of £56 million prior to the CommsXchange acquisition, and Cooper said he expects this growth to come from both a strong acquisitive strategy and organic growth.
He said part of this strategy will see GCI sales staff increasing cross-selling opportunities by boosting the average number of products sold to clients from one or two to more than four.
His first move as sales director was to set up GCI’s first ever sales conference, which will take place at the Hotel Xenia in London, where staff will discuss best sales technique strategies and plans to drive the business forward.
“Holding our first conference gives me the chance to really engage with the sales staff and supercharge sales strategy,” Cooper added.