Advania's strategic acquisition of VAR Servium in June is poised to significantly boost its UK growth trajectory, with the Nordic MSP aiming to reach around £190 million in combined revenue across its UK operations for the fiscal year 2024, according to Geoff Kneen (pictured), CEO of Advania UK.
The IT services company and Microsoft partner has a significant presence across the Nordic region and the UK. The group reported £1.1 billion (15.2 billion SEK) in 2023, employs around 5,000 staff across six countries (Sweden, Norway, UK, Finland, Iceland and Denmark) and offers a wide array of services including managed services, hardware and software solutions, and professional services tailored to clients in both corporate and public sectors.
In December 2021, Advania made a strategic leap into the UK market by acquiring Content+Cloud, an MSP known for its capabilities in the Microsoft ecosystem. This acquisition marked a significant rebranding move, with the Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) backed business officially adopting the Advania name in the UK.
‘A £50 billion market: The UK opportunity’
Integrating Servium, Advania’s seventh acquisition to date, is a critical part of the group’s five-year plan to consolidate its presence in the UK and Northern Europe.
"The UK is a significant market; it’s now a £50 billion a year market," Kneen points out. "This acquisition demonstrates to our key vendor partners that Advania is serious about the Northern European market. We will look to consolidate and grow across the UK market because the opportunity is immense, and we're building a great business."
Kneen elaborates on Advania UK’s strategy, saying, "We set our five-year strategy of saying that we don't want our clients to have to go anywhere else for any of their strategic technology needs. The big gap in that was the technology resale piece.
"It's also very consistent with the rest of the iconic countries. The advantage here very much aligns with the strategy and the investment thesis from Goldman's to be that end-to-end service provider for clients."
The vision to be ‘the one-stop shop’ for clients
Further emphasising Advania’s strategic goals, Kneen elaborates on Advania’s vision, stating one of the primary motivations behind the acquisition is to simplify IT service integration for clients.
"A lot of the conversations we've had with our clients is if they've got a trusted partner that can be providing more of that IT service for them and doing more of that integration of those products and services into them. And therefore, reduce the number of suppliers that they need to have. It's a real help for those clients," Kneen explains.
“Our goal is to be the one-stop shop for our clients' IT needs. By integrating more services and reducing the number of suppliers they need to manage, we make their operations smoother and more cost-effective."
The acquisition also significantly bolsters Advania's relationships with major vendors. By incorporating Servium's expertise and portfolio, Advania can offer a more robust and comprehensive service to its clients.
The alignment with key vendors such as Microsoft, HP, Dell, Cisco, and Lenovo are particularly noteworthy. These vendors are central to Advania's offerings, providing essential technology and support.
Kneen highlights, "It was a really complementary blend of the key services. You've got your Microsoft, HP, Dell, Cisco, and Lenovo – you’ve got the biggest parts of the market covered. The reason that they're the big players in the marketplace is because they're the things that you see most often inside your clients as well."
Investing in people and technology: ‘One of our top priorities’
In addition to expanding its market reach, Advania’s acquisition strategy focuses on ensuring that acquired companies share its values regarding client service and employee experience.
This commitment to people is evident in their extensive learning and development programs. For instance, Advania has rolled out Microsoft Co-Pilot to all employees, providing advanced tools to enhance productivity and innovation.
"We believe that investing in the talent within our business is one of our top priorities," Kneen states. "We’ve rolled out Microsoft Co-Pilot to everyone in the company as part of our commitment to enhancing our people's skills and the tools at their disposal.
“We are confident that our employees will demonstrate remarkable achievements with Co-Pilot, which is why we implemented it company-wide after the success of our pilot group."
Advania’s acquisition strategy always prioritises being the best service provider for clients and creating the best workplace for talented people. "These are always the two most important things in our acquisition strategy," Kneen concludes.
