Salmon’s tech distributor sets €1bn sales target
Mayoman has an ambitious five-year growth plan for CMS Distribution,
ENTREPRENEUR Frank Salmon’s technology-distribution firm is working to a five-year growth plan that aims to double its sales to €1bn.
CMS Distribution, which is headquartered in Kiltimagh, Co Mayo, has also reorganised its Dublin operation, moving a logistics function serving this country and Britain to the UK, and opening a new international sales and support office in Dublin’s Smithfield, for which it is recruiting sales people and data scientists.
The business — which employs 350 people across 12 locations here, in Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, France, Australia and China — saw record revenues in results announced in May for last year, with turnover up by 38pc to €510m and earnings up by 40pc to €19.6m.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Salmon said: “Having achieved this sales record, my management team and I have made a five-year plan, aiming to double our sales to €1bn by the end of 2022.”
Asked whether he might consider an IPO of the business at that stage, he added: “If we achieve that, it will open up several options to us. An IPO would be one of those.”
The reorganisation in Dublin involved a loss of about 12 jobs in logistics in Ballycoolin, with about 12 new ones in the Smithfield office being creat- ed, said Salmon, who is a former EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.
Asked whether the business has a strategy for a no-deal Brexit, Salmon added that it could re-open a function here to serve this country if necessary. It already has a warehouse in Amsterdam playing a key logistics role serving continental Europe.
CMS is the largest independent distributor of data storage, networking and IT infrastructure solutions in the UK and Ireland, servicing over 50 manufacturers and 2,800 resellers.
It supplies both business and consumer technologies. This is the firm’s 30th year in business.
Last year saw the firm open new offices in Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Madrid. It also acquired emerging technology and accessories distributor TNS Connect from Corkman Liam Casey’s company PCH.
Salmon, who is based in the UK, is a sponsor and co-founder of the Junior Entrepreneur Programme here, which teaches children about business. The other co-founders include Tweak. com founder Jerry Kennelly, Netwatch co-founder David Walsh, Ergo Group co-founder John Purdy, and Aspire Technology founder Bill Walsh.