The future of the UK arm of IT service firm Getronics is up in the air after owners Royal KPN said it was a major factor in the group’s poor performance.
“The UK market remains our most exposed part of the international business” managing director Eelco Blok said in a web conference, adding that the UK arm was “the predominant factor in the downward trend”.
With worldwide revenue of €2.2 billion and about 14,300 employees at the start of the year, Getronics has already stated that it intends to cut headcount by around 10%. In March the service provider confirmed it will reduce its total staff by 1,400 full-time employees, of which about 700 are located in the Netherlands.
“The workforce reduction is expected to be finalised by mid 2009 and the annual savings are expected to amount to about €60 million,” the company said at the time, adding that the possibility of compulsory redundancies could not be excluded.
“Currently we are assessing what the best way forward is for the UK operations, as we have shown in the past for the other operations of Getronics,” Blok said last week.
The UK business, which focuses on desktop support and deployment of Microsoft and Cisco solutions, has already been restructured several times under several management teams in the last 10 years or so.
The company is no stranger to merger and acquisition. In 1999, Getronics acquired Wang Laboratories and with it an international market. In 2005, it expanded into security and applications with its acquisitions of PinkRoccade and RedSiren. Then just two years ago, it was announced that Dutch IT and telecommunications company KPN was to buy Getronics for €766 million.
Since then, Getronics has divested its interests in Spain and Australia, and sold off its applications services business to Capgemini.
