Sports Direct Accelerates International Expansion Strategy
LONDON, November 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Sports Direct, the leading sport's retailer in the UK with branches across Europe, has extended its relationship with Easynet in order to support its international growth plans. Since 2009 Easynet has provided high performance managed connectivity for Sports Direct's retail network, which consists of more than 500 outlets in the UK and shops in over 19 countries (Belgium, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Austria and Slovenia) on the continent.
Sports Direct has grown significantly in recent years, especially in mainland Europe, through organic growth and acquisition. Their future strategy is to expand into all major EEA countries over the next 3 to 5 years, and these international growth plans are reliant on the timely delivery of a specific network set-up applicable to all of their retail stores. The network set-up delivered by Easynet is complex, entailing specific connectivity links to Sports Directs regional headquarters, as well as a fully managed 'wires only' MPLS service with SNMP access support, which is used to proactively monitor the technical performance of the service.
"We chose to continue our collaboration with Easynet given their proven track record in our sector, as well as with us. They have proved that they are capable of resolving our business challenges by creating flexible and innovative solutions. Furthermore they are one of the few global managed service providers that can deliver a managed 'wires only' MPLS service with SNMP access support. One of the conditions for contract renewal was the requirement for excellent levels of service delivery. This is important to us as our acquisition plans demand a speedy roll-out of business critical applications into the new businesses," explains Nick Denton, Head of IT Infrastructure at Sports Direct.
"Easynet has been working with international retail brands including Levi's, Toyota, Bridgestone and Rituals for many years. Network reliability can be 'make or break' for retailers, and we understand the huge impact of network downtime. Retailers are facing new technology challenges, both online and in-store. We are able to offer them managed network solutions globally, and we are also able to respond to the growing need for technology-based in-store client support with solutions to help them deliver a fantastic, differentiated customer experience, such as in-store WiFi-coverage, in-store video-solutions and enhanced security all-in-one," explains Adrian Thirkill, Easynet's UK MD, Global Services.
About Sports Direct
Sports Direct is the UK's leading sports retailer by revenue and operating profit, with approximately 500 stores across the UK. The Group provides an unrivalled range of products, offering exceptional quality and unbeatable value, from a wide variety of third-party and Group-owned brands, both in-store and online. Sports Direct operates in 19 countries in Europe, including Belgium, Austria, Slovenia and France. The Group has an extensive brand portfolio, comprising 28 internationally recognised sports, fashion and lifestyle brands including Dunlop, Slazenger, Everlast, Lonsdale and Karrimor.
About Easynet
Easynet is a leading managed service provider with over twenty years' experience delivering integrated networks, hosting and unified communications services to national, international and global customers. These core areas of expertise are enhanced by a range of 'over the top' solutions including security, voice, videoconferencing and application performance management.
Customers include EDF, Sage, Yakult, Transport for London, Bernard Matthews, Anglian Water, Bridgestone, Q Park and Campofrio Food Group.
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Media contact details:
Melanie Harrison
Head of Group Communications
+44-207-032-5812 / melanie.harrison@easynet.com
RW: Melanie.Harrison@easynet.com
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