Thursday 24 December 2015




Our very own Sharon Allen went for a bold new look for Christmas - and it's really paid off, as she has raised thousands of pounds for good causes.

Sharon is Group Finance Director at award-winning, Basingstoke-based Centerprise International, and both she and colleagues have pledged to use their fundraising muscle to support three charities over the next 12 months - Ark Cancer Centre Charity, Help for Heroes, and MCCH, which helps people to manage mental well-being challenges.

To get the fundraising ball rolling, Sharon decided to lose her locks in time for Christmas - and her brave feat has paid dividends for charities.

The donations came pouring in, and by the time the scissors and clipper were wielded on December 23rd, Sharon had raised more than £5,700 in online and offline donations, and has every hope that the final figure will top £6,000.

Sharon's purple and pink locks were lopped off in front of colleagues at the company's Hampshire International Business Park headquarters in Chineham.

The hair was sent tumbling thanks to some snipping and clipping by Centerprise International Chairman, Rafi Razzak, Group HR and Support Director, Sam Lailey, and Dave Taylor, from the Systems Integrators team.

Sharon said:
"I am staggered and blown away by the support that I have received from family, friends and work colleagues. I was hoping to raise £500, so to raise well over £5,000 already is amazing."

Just before Sharon's fundraising haircut, Director of Fundraising and Communications for Ark Cancer Centre Charity, Mark Jones, gave a talk to the Centerprise team about the charity, which is raising £5 million towards a cancer treatment centre that will help and support people in the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust area.

Mark Jones stated:
"The Ark Cancer Centre Charity team are so grateful for the support of the staff at Centerprise International. The commitment and involvement of the 150-strong team will really help to raise awareness of the cancer treatment centre project as well as funds for the charity appeal."

The £5m appeal will ensure a range of support services and complementary therapies are available alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments in a calm and uplifting environment.

The new centre is earmarked for a location in the Basingstoke and Deane area, and if the preferred site near to Junction 7 of the M3 is approved, it will be easily accessible to everyone in the HFFT region. The centre is scheduled to open at the end of 2018.



For more information about the fantastic charities Centerprise is supporting:
The Ark Cancer Charity http://www.arkcancercharity.org.uk/
MCCH http://www.mcch.org.uk/
Help for Heroes http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/

Friday 18 December 2015

Ark Cancer Centre Charity trustee Merv Rees (front, second right) and Mark Jones, Ark Cancer Centre Charity Director of Fundraising and Communications (front, second left) with members of the Centerprise team, including chairman Rafi Razzak (front centre). 



STAFF at award-winning Basingstoke-based Centerprise International have pledged to use their money-raising muscle to help fund a unique local cancer treatment centre.

Employees at the top-performing IT company, based on Hampshire International Business Park in Chineham, have voted to support three charities in 2016 – and 80 per cent of their fundraising will go to Ark Cancer Centre Charity.

The charity is raising £5million towards a cancer treatment centre that will help and support people in the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) area. 

The £5m appeal will ensure a range of support services and complementary therapies are available alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments in a calm and uplifting environment.

The new centre is earmarked for a location in the Basingstoke and Deane area, and if the preferred site near to Junction 7 of the M3 is approved, it will be easily accessible to everyone in the HHFT region. The centre is scheduled to open at the end of 2018.

Sam Lailey, Group HR and Support Director at Centerprise International, said the company’s charity committee and staff will be delighted to support Ark Cancer Centre Charity, Help for Heroes, and MCCH, which helps people to manage mental wellbeing challenges, during 2016. 

Sam said: “These are three very good causes, and the team are looking forward to taking on various fundraising activities to support them.”

Group Finance Director Sharon Allen will be kicking off the fundraising for Ark Cancer Centre Charity in a big way when she loses her locks for Christmas by taking part in a sponsored head-shave on December 23.

Sharon, who has already drummed up more than £4,000 in sponsorship support, said: “I'm never going to climb a mountain or run a marathon but I can do this simple thing to raise money for a fantastic charity.”  

To mark the launch of Centerprise’s year of fundraising, Ark Cancer Centre Charity trustee Merv Rees visited the company’s offices to thank chairman Rafi Razzak and his staff for their support, and to tell them more about the charity and cancer treatment centre project.

Merv said: “I am very grateful to the Centerprise team for choosing Ark Cancer Centre Charity as one of their good causes to raise money for in 2016. This significant show of support will help to raise vital awareness of, and funds for, the charity appeal and cancer centre project.”  


For more information about the Ark Cancer Centre Charity, please visit: www.arkcancercharity.org.uk




What was the key to FY15’s massive profit increase?

Moving more towards service delivery helped improve the profit margin a lot, and we were much more focused on our own products.

The UK system builder space has had an up-and-down few years. How have you prospered?

The market seems to be right for bespoke manufacturing, and we are seeing far less competition there than ever. We see customers with a requirement for hardware and services with a tailored approach, rather than a corporate approach. Now the customer is much more careful in terms of specifying their exact requirements.

Your background is as a public sector specialist – how much have you evolved?

We moved into high-end workstations with BOXX Technologies, as well as our own products, and that has taken us more into the private sector. In both the private and public sector we are seeing that customers are not just buying because of the brand, but because of the specification and what their needs are.

Where does the cloud fit into your plans?

I heard a good analogy about this: If you are going to London for two nights, you book a hotel. If it is six months, you rent a flat. If it is two years, you buy a house. That explains how the cloud can sometimes be a shorter-term solution, rather than a long-term one. There is definitely a place for it, but it is not the be-all and end-all. It will definitely be a hybrid world.


Ci VAR overview from CRN :

The Hampshire-based VAR and system builder’s turnover was relatively flat in FY15, but net profit spiked more than threefold to £1.9m. The company claimed it enjoyed significant success during the year in winning service-delivery contracts, and the aim for 2016 is to grow its cloud business. It is also hoping its distribution agreement with BOXX Technologies will give it a leg-up into providing high-end workstations into the media market.

Content credit to the chairman & channelweb.co.uk

Monday 14 December 2015

Centerprise will now be delivering expert screen protection in collaboration with Tuffscreen, specialist in industrial strength screen protection for all electronic devices.  

This new addition to Ci Distribution’s ever expanding portfolio is on point with their overall mission for 2016: to become the number 1 for rugged tech in the UK.

Tuffscreen screen protectors are a purpose-designed industrial strength screen protection solution.  They are made from an impact absorbing gel layer which is chemically bonded to a scratch and abrasion-resistant hard sheet which helps to eliminate all causes of screen damage. 

Damage to the screens of electronic devices is costing companies across the industrial spectrum on a daily basis, costing an average £100 pounds to replace each time. As people become more reliant on these devices for their operations, Tuffscreen screen protectors deliver a simple and effective solution to this problem.

As partners, Ci and Tuffscreen are able to facilitate the productivity and mobility of commercial markets whose devices need extra protection. A Tuffscreen can make devices up to 7.6 times stronger and so adds to the workflow of many organisations.

Tuffscreens can be supplied with a wide range of cases to suit your device and requirements. Custom case and charging solutions can also be developed to provide a full solution to device vulnerability and help to solve the costly problems of downtime and repair caused by screen damage.

Emma Loveless, Business Manager at Centerprise said;

“As a result of this partnership, not only can we offer fully rugged solutions, but also give resellers the option to make their ordinary tech stronger and less vulnerable to superficial damage, reducing the TCO for their customers” 


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