Exertis has convened its first ever Virtual Vendor Summit which promised the global audience that there is no better time for vendors seeking a path forward in 2021 and beyond.

Funnily enough, it made use of many of the integrated AV technologies that are now mainstays of the COVID-19 era of remote work.

“We are the one global distribution partner that offers the most stability and the greatest range of resources that can help you grow your business region by region, category by category, here in North American and around the world,” Exertis president and chief executive Kevin Kelly says.

Amplifying further on the scale of the opportunity, DCC Technology managing director Tim Griffin says that DCC is a 43-year-old FTSE 100 company that employs 13,000 around the world: “We seek to grow by 15% a year through a market commitment to specialism and a maniacal focus on meeting the needs of our customers in each specialist area.

“We enable people and businesses to grow and progress, evolve our specialist brands to provide global opportunities to our vendors, and expand our geographical footprint through acquisitions.”

Reviewing the current business environment, Kevin emphasises that 2020 was a year of two halves: “2019 was the best year in history for the commercial AV industry and for our company, and 2020 started off like a rocket with major installations across all of our vertical markets. And then COVID-19 brought the world, and our industry, to a standstill.

“The months of April and May were challenging but then, in July, business started to rebound as customers invested heavily in the technologies and solutions that meet the needs of the new remote based workforce. This resurgence continues with our overall sales up 21% in the second half of the year.”

Looking forward to 2021, Kevin promises vendors that Exertis is committed to providing value-added services including marketing, sourcing, supply chain management, logistics, as well as increased digitalisation and automation of the business.