Inside Tech Data

It’s one of the biggest distributors in the world, and group marketing director UK and Ireland Andy Dow invited Jonathan Easton into the company’s Basingstoke HQ to see the lay of the land.

It might have been a cold and damp Friday outside, but that didn’t deter those inside Tech Data’s bustling Basingstoke office from keeping the ship sailing smoothly when I stopped by to see just what goes on inside.

Taking time out to walk me through the company and its ethos, group marketing director Andy Dow stressed that a ‘people-first’ mentality creates a positive work environment and ensures that everyone is working at their best. (Certainly everyone seemed in good spirits – I was complimented on my hair during my brief visit, twice.)

But while the sales and HR teams are busy at work, so too are the teams at the Magna Park warehouse in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Priding itself on being the ‘UK’s busiest IT and mobile product logistics operation’, the 46,000m warehouse is the size of 10 football pitches (you could fit the entirety of Wembley Stadium inside) and sends 2 million DNLs and 16 million units per annum out to the UK and across Europe. 18 receiving bays, three miles of conveyors and 20,000 product lines stocked across 42,000 storage locations mean that handlers can process up to 100 pick-ups a minute and 20,000 orders a day. Dow promised that they’re working to make that number even higher.

It is a good time for Tech Data across the entire business and that looks certain to continue throughout 2018 and beyond.