Red Commerce, backed by Dunedin in a GBP44 million buyout, has become the first UK specialist supplier of SAP consultants to build a national presence in Brazil. This is the third international office opening since the Dunedin buyout in July 2011.
Giles Derry (pictured)a partner at Dunedin on the board of Red Commerce says: “SAP predict that by 2025 Brazil will be the biggest market for SAP experts after the US. SAP software sales were up 90% in Brazil in 2011. This office represents a significant first mover advantage for the blue chip clients of Red Commerce, and closely follows our investment in new offices in New York and in Munich.”
Red Commerce’s impressive growth has continued since the buyout with turnover rising 29% from GBP62m to GBP80m over the year to March. The company has invested heavily in training and people so employee numbers have grown from 135 to 195 in less than a year.
Richard Vercesi the CEO of Red Commerce. says: “Our strategy of expanding our international office network in line with SAP’s growth plans and the continued expansion of RedSolution, our SAP Advisory, Implementation and Enablement service is continuing to drive growth.
“Internationalisation of a business is not without its challenges. It took us over eight months to open the office in Brazil, due to a number of practical constraints, including difficulties in setting up bank accounts, transporting goods and transferring money. Also we have had to navigate a highly unionised environment, which is a different dynamic to all of the other markets that we operate in. The Brazilian authorities were however very helpful in easing our path.”
Red Commerce, which was founded in 2000, now has a global footprint with access to over 210,000 SAP experts in 80 countries, and offices in the UK, US, Germany, France, Scandinavia, Switzerland and Brazil. Clients include Bosch, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis. The company has featured in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 for three consecutive years.
Named one of the best Small Companies to Work For in 2012, 2011 and 2010 by the Sunday Times Best 100, the people at Red Commerce, many of whom are shareholders, pride themselves on outstanding customer service with an ability to access the best and most appropriate consultants to cutting edge SAP implementations, locally and globally.
