Jim Edgar – Veritek – The Big Interview

From one man in a van, to a £million company… The story of Veritek

Veritek is a remarkable success story. Started by one man and a van in 1985, it has metamorphosised into an international operation with revenues in excess of £25m and employing c. 300 staff across nine countries.

Veritek provides European-wide installation, maintenance and support services to blue-chip brands in an array of high tech sectors. Last year Jim Edgar, Managing Director, together with Jonathan Briant, Finance Director, completed a successful £11million MBO of the company. In 2012, Veritek received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade and last month Mr Edgar was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year at the Insider Dealmakers Awards. Jim has also been nominated for Director of the Year Award with the Institute of Directors London and the South East.

We talk to the gregarious MD about his success at the helm of Veritek since 2007.

Jim, how does it feel to be called an entrepreneur – and an award-winning one, at that – given your background?

To be awarded for developing a business that I find both exciting and challenging is really a bonus. For someone who spent 33 years in the banking sector, it is interesting to be called an entrepreneur. When I took to the helm of Veritek, seven years ago, it was a successful business but mostly focused on just one sector – photo imaging. Now it has grown and expanded into many other high tech sectors to include healthcare, ophthalmic, graphics and digital cinema.

What do the awards you’ve won recently mean for you and for the business?

We have been honoured with several awards over the past number years and it has been really great.

Scooping an award gives our entire team the opportunity to reflect on the journey so far, to be proud of their work, their fellow colleagues and be confident in the future of the business. I see these awards as an independent stamp of recognition on the achievements of the business and all the staff. Our business success is as a result of our vision, a planned growth and diversification strategy and, of course, our entire team’s dedication

Do you think of Veritek as a local business, or an international one now?

Veritek is an international business with its HQ in Sussex. We have offices in London, Madrid, Turin, Warsaw, Willich, Prague and Brisbane plus some 300 staff spread across nine countries. Our USP is our Europe-wide offering so our business is an international one, but our roots are very much in local ground.

How have you managed such rapid expansion successfully?

Our expansion has been carefully fuelled by four key elements:

Firstly, our competitive advantage of being able to offer a truly pan-European proposition, rare in the service industry. Secondly, our brand independent status bridges the gap between manufacturer and customer, while reducing cost and improving service delivery for our customers.

Thirdly, we have the ability to diversify quickly and effectively into other high tech sectors – almost at a moments notice. This has been crucial to our growth. As the business is built on a large international team of highly skilled engineers, who are able to work across almost any technology, we have been able to take on large international service agreements in a range of sectors. Other service providers are not geared up to do.

Finally, we are ultimately a service company so customer care is the very fabric of our business. It’s not just looking after our customer that has supported our expansion; it is impressing them at every opportunity. This has helped grow our reputation as a trusted and sought after service and support partner for many of the world’s leading brands.

How do you plan to continue this upward curve?

The sustaining big idea and backbone of Veritek is exceptional expert service and support for high tech equipment, delivered 24/7 by highly skilled teams of field engineers across Europe.

We plan to expand and diversify in the same vein that we’ve been doing over the past five years. We will continue to provide high quality outsourced service to a range of sectors dependent on fast and efficient technical support to maintain equipment availability, as well as expand our European footprint geographically and by sector.

www.veritekglobal.com