TSG buys Scottish dealer

Third buy in three weeks

By Drew Cullen • Get more from this author

Posted in IT Channel, 7th December 2004 16:00 GMT

Technology Services Group (TSG) has bought a ESCO, small Scottish networking reseller based in Cumbernauld, its third acquisition in as many weeks. Terms are undisclosed. All 17 ESCO staff are moving to TSG offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh. TSG now employs 100 staff across the border, serving 2,200 customers.

TSG is the brainchild of Graham Wylie, Sage co-founder, who set up the business in 2003 to supply IT services to SMEs. This is a highly fragmented sector. The big guys are not interested in supplying a full service for such customers, and the historic incumbents are too small and too undercapitalised to grow by acquisition. Money has not been a problem for many years for Wylie, one of the UK's richest men thanks to his Sage shareholding.

The Newcastle-based company has bought 10 resellers in the North and In Scotland in the last year, favouring accountancy software dealers in particular. It claims a leading position in reselling Sage, Exchequer and Pegasus software.

Last week, the company made its move into the Midlands, with the acquisition of Systems Advantage, an accountancy software specialist based in Broom, Warks and Basingstoke. Forty One, a reseller based in Warrington.

TSG now employs over 350 staff, claims an annualised turnover of £34 million and 8,500 customers. ®