Twelve months ago, European giant Bechtle acquired Northampton-based ACS Office Solutions, bringing about a period of consolidation and change, and developing a vision of what the company is looking to achieve.
As part of the group’s ‘One Bechtle’ strategy, the local managed service provider has been smoothly integrated into Bechtle, which enables customers of ACS to enjoy the additional purchasing power and partner status that comes with working with one of the world’s largest IT providers. In turn, Bechtle’s clients now have the ability to tap into the knowledge and technical skill set of the team in Northampton.
As Germany’s largest independent IT systems integrator, Bechtle is a strong partner for future-facing IT architecture and is Europe’s future-ready e-commerce provider, but if the fact that ACS is now part of a global powerhouse rang any alarm bells with clients who valued dealing with a local provider, those fears have quickly been allayed. Bechtle has a saying – ‘think global, act local’ which goes to the heart of what has always been core to the family-orientated Northampton business.
ACS Office Solutions has for some years focused on cybersecurity and modern work concepts as well as managed IT and cloud services, offering customers its own cloud hosting capacities. The IT service provider covers a wide customer spectrum from regional companies to large corporations and the public sector.
Bechtle Direct UK and ACS had already delivered a number of successful customer projects together in the past, and, by joining the Bechtle Group, ACS co-founder Jon Thorpe secured the company a future-oriented succession plan. The executive management team of ACS remained in their roles and have overseen the process of integrating the company into the Bechtle Group together with James Napp, Managing Director of Bechtle direct UK. James Napp said:
“Northamptonshire and the surrounding areas are vitally important to Bechtle. As we grow in the UK, we require the ability to attract and retain the best talent, so a thriving local economy is key to our ability to do that. We want to be a key part of that, and continuing to work with the local business community is at the heart of what we are trying to achieve.
“Having worked with Jon Thorpe for a number of years we always knew what a fantastic place to do business Northamptonshire is, and the team that we have in Northampton have demonstrated unrivalled commitment to the clients in the area and that is something that we feel passionately about building up on that.”
Jon Thorpe said:
“Having co-founded the company, it was very important to me to know it would be in good hands further down the road, both for our colleagues and our customers. With Bechtle, we’re well poised to keep growing while ensuring consistent, long- term support for our customers during their digital transformation. I’m very much enjoying this new chapter in our company’s history.”
While Bechtle is renowned for being one of the largest IT suppliers and service providers, and the IT sales team and service department are the obvious fit with the group’s traditional objectives, it is the unique services from which local businesses benefit that Bechtle are keen to continue and grow, along with the community involvement that has always been at the heart of ACS Office Solutions. In its first year as Bechtle, the firm sponsored the New Business of the Year category in the 2023 Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards.
Ajay Arithoppah, Head of Solutions and Services at Bechtle UK, said:
“Having such a strong mature IT helpdesk and professional services offering was vital for our strategic growth, but being able to bring a telecommunications offering in house at the same time is also a fantastic opportunity for us.
“One of the most exciting prospects is the office furniture and interiors offering that ACS had in place. When discussing an offering, having a combined technology and workplace business in this modern hybrid world we now operate in, it really is quite compelling and that is a side of the business that we are looking forward to growing and see flourish over the coming years.
“With the core management team, including all directors still being part of the Bechtle team in Northampton, and a strong recruitment plan to increase the already extremely talented workforce, the future is extremely bright for Bechtle Northampton and the local businesses that we will continue to work with.”
Find out more about Bechtle at www.bechtle.com
