Midwich celebrated its first 40 years in business on April 12, during which time it has grown to become a £574 million turnover company with 900 employees and 17,000 customers across the UK, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Stephen Fenby, Managing Director of Midwich Group Plc, said: “I would like to congratulate all of my fellow employees on today’s anniversary. Midwich has grown phenomenally since its inception to become one of the world’s leading specialist AV distributors. It has been an amazing journey.”
Midwich Computer Company was established in 1979 by husband and wife team David and Ruth Watson who started out selling computer components and supplying BBC computers to schools and colleges.
In 1991, the company was sold to Oxfordshire-based distribution company Memec PLC, which, in the mid ‘90s, began to sell AV products and concentrate on trade-only customers.
Following a management buy-out in 2001, Midwich decided to focus on the AV market and entered a period of rapid growth. It started an acquisition programme in 2006, initially to extend its range of specialist AV products and then to enter new geographies, starting with Ireland through the acquisition of AV distributor Square One in 2009.
Since then, Midwich has continued to expand across Europe and also has a strong presence in the Asia Pacific region.
In 2016, Midwich became Midwich Group plc after being admitted to the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market with a market capitalisation of £165m. Since then, it has doubled net profit and increased turnover by more than 80% to £574 million.
Midwich Timeline
1976
Midwich Computer Company founded
1979 – 1987
Distributor of computers, components and printers
1995 – 1996
Introduced trade-only channel policy and commenced AV distribution
2000 – 2005
Over £100m annual sales achieved
2006 – 2010
6 bolt-on acquisitions
Entry into France and Ireland
2012
Entry into Australia and New Zealand
2013
Acquisition of Kern & Stelly, a specialist distribution of audio visual products and solutions, based in Hamburg and serving the German market
2014 – 2015
Acquisition of PSCo, specialists in Rental and LED
2016
Flotation of The Midwich Group on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange
Acquisition of Holdan, a UKbased distributor of broadcast and professional video products
Acquisition of Wired, a NZ-based distributor of AV technology
2017
Acquisition of Earpro, a specialist audio visual distributor headquartered in Barcelona, covering the Spanish and Portuguese markets
Acquisition of Van Domburg Partners, a market-leading audio visual distributor in the Netherlands
Acquisition of Sound Technology, a specialist distributor of professional audio, musical instruments and professional lighting
2018
Acquisition of Bauer and Trummer GmbH, trading as New Media AV, a value added distributor of broadcast and professional video products in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
Acquisition of Sound Directions France, trading as Perfect Sound, a specialist distributor in the audio integration market, serving France and the French peaking area of Switzerland
Acquisition of Blonde Robot, a specialist trade-only distributor of professional video, photographic and broadcast equipment, covering the Asia Pacific region
2019
Acquisition of Mobile Pro, a leading Swiss, value added, trade-only distributor of audio visual products with its head office in Zurich
Acquisition of Prase, Italy’s leading, specialist value add distributor of professional audio and video products
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