Let’s talk big numbers to start with! Roy Cooper writes in his gossip in the March 2015 print issue of Professional Security magazine.
Canon! I am starting to think is an acronym for Canon Acquire New Organisation News! Yes, I am referring to latest news to come out of these guys that they made a 23 billion Swedish krone bid to buy Axis Communications, (that’s £1.85 billion in case you can’t work it out) and that was cash! It would seem the company have several billion in the bank! The offer price values Axis at 23 times estimated 2015 earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with China’s Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, and Canada’s Avigilon Corp, which are trading at 19 times and 24 times projected earnings, respectively. To be honest it does not come as a surprise to me and I am sure that you will see a number of other acquisitions by Canon as the months ahead unfold. Who? that’s not for me to speculate but time will tell. IHS, a US industry analyst, estimates that Axis Communications were the third largest supplier of video surveillance equipment in 2014 with over five per cent of a global market worth around $15 billion. They say that despite this, the company has faced intense competition, particularly from Chinese rivals in recent years. The largest of these, Hikvision and Dahua, have both been gaining market share faster than Axis. At the same time, the average selling price of a network camera has more than halved between 2010 and 2014. They go on to say Canon’s acquisition of Axis is the latest in a number of major changes to the supply chain for video surveillance. It comes just two months after Samsung Group sold Samsung Techwin. The supply chain remains highly fragmented. The top 15 suppliers account for less than half of revenues and there are thousands of small suppliers. Consolidation has been anticipated for some time and Canon’s purchase could be just the start of 2015 industry acquisitions?
And at Axis
Back to the normal gossip, and talking of Axis, they have appointed Andrew Martin to their northern European senior management team. He joins as a retail business development manager and will be based in Watford. After serving with West Yorkshire Police, Andrew has worked in retail security, loss prevention and operations for 25 years, in-house and as a consultant; in senior management posts at Dixons, HMV and Fopp; and advising brands such as Apple, Waitrose and Jessops
Sales team
Tyco Security Products continues to grow in the UK, as a new UK Core Commercial sales team has been formed, of five new regional sales people and two applications engineers. They’ll develop new access and video installer relationships in England, Scotland and Wales. One more appointment is to follow in March. Martin McGrath has been promoted to Distribution and Core Commercial Business Manager and the new team will report to him; he will continue to report to UK and Ireland Sales Director Alan Riegler. The business in Ireland will continue to be managed by Colm O’Brien, who also reports to Alan. Regional sales managers are Jason Kinloch (Scotland), Andy Tuck (north), Terry Eaglen (south east), Tim Field (south west), and Andy Strangwood, applications engineer.
Consultant
Consultive Solutions Limited, the security and communications consultancy based in the North East, have taken on James Telford. He joins as a consultant and has 15 years of experience of the security market, from beginnings at Modern Alarms to running his own installation company. I won’t go on – but that was where I was ….
At Sony’s video security division in the UK, Marc Roth joins as Channel Account Manager (CAM), developing relationships with installers and integrators for IP and analogue. Based at Sony’s UK head offices in Basingstoke, Marc has a CCTV sales background – coming from EET Europarts Ltd.
NSI chief
The National Security Inspectorate (NSI) has appointed Richard Jenkins, pictured, as its new permanent Chief Executive. He’s been in the interim role since March 2014, replacing Jeff Little. More about Richard shortly as we hope to see him at the NSI installer summit at Birmingham on Tuesday, March 10. If you go, you can too!?
Charity
Donna Bickley at Inside Out an installer in Nottingham told me: “As you may or may not be aware Simon, Jake, Jay, Karla, Stee and myself are taking part in the 10K suffering event on Saturday, March 7. You can see what is involved in this event by clicking on this link: http://www.thesufferingrace.co.uk/ocr/rockingham-castle/10km-winter/
We have recently set up our Justgiving page and we are aiming to raise money for Maggie’s Cancer Care, based in Nottingham. This event and the fundraising means a lot to the team at Inside Out. Last year, our Office Manager, Joyce went through cancer treatment and had an incredibly tough 12 months. We are pleased to say that Joyce completed her chemo in December. Throughout her treatment Joyce visited Maggies and repeatedly said how fantastic the centre and the people were at Maggies and their support really helped her through the difficult time she was going through. All of the team at Inside Out are incredibly proud of Joyce and how she has tackled her cancer.”
Finally
A sad note, for those of you that knew him I am saddened to report that John Sharvell passed away on January 16, at the young age of 60. He had a heart attack. His son Freddie told me he fought back hard but never pulled through. Big John (as I used to call him) was my immediate boss at Rediffusion all those years ago, and I learned at his funeral that he was a very keen swimmer. I never knew that about him, which made me think what else do you not know about people who are your friends? He leaves his wife Ann-Britt and his two children and their children. It makes you realise that you never know when your time is up, so enjoy life folks; as tomorrow never comes.
