Getronics Names New Sales Leader Following Acquisition Of Pomeroy

Paul Fox, global head of sales at Getronics, will replace Pomeroy's sales leader, who left last week following Getronics' purchase of the MSP powerhouse, Getronics CEO Nana Baffour told CRN.

Paul Fox, who was for a time CEO of Getronics in the U.K., also has worked as director of sales and marketing for Samsung’s IT operation. But he started his career at Lexmark, where he climbed the ladder from graduate trainee to director of business development in EMEA, according to his LinkedIn profile.

’Paul is our global head of sales and he’s absorbing the U.S. region and bringing in sort of the global perspective, and the global scale, and some of these other solutions,’ Baffour said. ’In the last five years, he’s been very instrumental in the transformation of Getronics from being a workspace-focused company to what it is now, which is a full solution provider.’

Following the sale of Pomeroy to Getronics last week, CRN exclusively reported that two key company leaders were out. Among them was Peter Thelan, who has headed up the Pomeroy sales team for the past eight years. Thelan was known for his strong customer relationships and deep knowledge of the Pomeroy operations.

Also out was Chris Froman, who is widely credited with building Pomeroy into an MSP powerhouse. Froman was CEO from January 2009 to October 2017 when he took an executive chairman role on the company's board of directors.

Fox will assume Thelan’s responsibilities, Baffour said.

’These guys are very great professionals and have really been able to build Pomeroy into what it is today,’ Baffour said. ’We are making a transition where Pomeroy is going from being a U.S. workspace-centric business to being a global solution provider. Clearly, when you are making these transitions, you want to bring the best to bear in terms of their transition. Paul Fox is probably one of the most sophisticated solutions-oriented leaders to be working in the midmarket in the world today.’

The deal between the two companies, announced last week, creates a $1.3 billion solution provider behemoth with 9,000 employees and coverage in more than 110 countries. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pomeroy went private through a merger agreement with Platinum Equity in 2009, which valued the company at nearly $61 million. Six years later, Froman guided Pomeroy through another major transition as private equity firm Clearlake Capital acquired the company and merged it with retail partner Tolt Solutions to create a 4,000-employee, $1 billion channel giant.

Baffour said Fox is a proven sales leader who will usher Pomeroy onto to the world stage.

’Paul when he worked for Lexmark spent a lot of time in the Midwest,’ Baffour said. ’So he’s very familiar with the U.S. market, just like he's familiar with Asia. So we have a global business development executive in Paul Fox. He’s the right man for the job at the right time.’