Global expansion on the minds of UK channel companies

This is supported by 52% of UK channel businesses actively looking to expand their businesses internationally, with Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America proving the most attractive destinations. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of channel respondents currently operate in the APAC region, while 32% are looking to move into South American territories, reflecting the maturity of developing regions in creating a truly connected global IT channel.

The findings have been released by Agilitas as part of its research into the attitudes of the UK IT channel towards globalisation, and the issues and barriers presented to companies that wish to facilitate international growth.

Although there is an overly positive outlook from the channel towards global growth, UK businesses still maintain a degree of caution when approaching globalisation. For example, a quarter of decision makers believe that Brexit and the ‘Trump era’ will have a profound impact on global IT channel growth, with a fifth of all companies believing the European Union exit will significantly delay growth plans.

Additional logistical, practical and financial considerations of globalisation have also been identified by the UK IT channel, either as barriers towards domestic and international growth, or to provide opportunities to expand. A third believe that having a presence in other regions minimises the financial risk of having a purely UK-focused business, ahead of the UK’s official EU exit, while 20% of decision makers cite internal finances and infrastructure issues as the main barriers towards expanding.