Page 16 - BOSS Today Issue 2

Boss Awards
interview

Entrepreneur

of the year

At the recent BOSS Awards, David Langdown was recognised as the industry’s
Entrepreneur of the Year. We spoke to him to get his reaction, and started by

asking about his background.

Tell us about yourself. business development team events. We also use it to support
I’m 45, and I’m married to Jayne. working for companies in the many blue chip customers,
We have two children, Harriet who’s telecoms, IT, office products, travel, including being the designated
fifteen, and James, five. We live in and gifts & incentives sectors. In partner for Childline, the BT Tower,
Sunbury, Middlesex with Poppy, our 1994 we created Officepoint, a Hilton Hotels and others.
Tibetan Terrier. dealer group for small and medium-
sized dealers who we felt would What’s your job?
What was your career path? benefit from our experience and I’m Managing Director of XPD and
I started with RS Components, expertise. of Officepoint, and a Director of
Europe’s largest distributor of We have since launched two all of the other XPD businesses.
electronic components. I left to other groups in the office products My role is to lead: to do whatever
join a management development sector. Officestar is for larger dealers, is needed to run the businesses
programme with RS’s parent particularly those who target effectively.
company, Electrocomponents PLC. contract business and national
When the programme finished, I accounts. It also has a series of Tell us about your day.
was offered a marketing role at the vertical market programmes, I set the alarm for 6.51. This allows
European headquarters of Misco, most notably for the legal and me to hit the snooze button and
the mail order computer supplies educational markets. Simply Office get nine minutes more sleep before
business. That role was previously is the UK’s only dealer group with being woken again at 7.00 with the David Langdown
held by this year’s Lifetime a purely technological approach. news! I listen to that and then get at a glance
Achievement Award winner, Members have e-commerce and ready for work.
Graham Cundick, so it must have e-procurement solutions, and utilise Depending on the weather, it’s Born: 1964
been a good launch pad! e-marketing campaigns. toast and half an hour in the car or Home: Sunbury, Middlesex
When Misco was sold, the buyers In 2000 we formed our own a banana and forty minutes on the Family: Married to Jayne,
brought in their own team, so I was technology company, Clic2, to bike. Once I arrive, I switch on my with two children, Harriet
out of a job. I was asked if I would create e-commerce solutions. laptop and download my emails. and James
like to set up a company with a Our webstore technology is used Next, I go around the building, First job: RS Components,
couple of former colleagues to try by over 400 IT and office product see all the staff and make sure Europe’s leading electronic
and develop our own business. resellers – and by many clients everyone’s happy. Finally I sit down components distributor
This was in 1992, at the bottom of outside the industry. with the accountant to check the Greatest achievement:
a recession, so I decided to give it a The final part of XPD is High bank balances and the cashflow Co-founding XPD Ltd in the
go. That was the start of XPD Ltd. Performance UK, an entertainment against forecast before authorising depths of a recession and
company. We bought it because invoices and signing cheques. Once helping to grow it into a
What exactly is XPD? of having to book speakers and all that’s done, I have my first coffee multi-business group
We started as an independent entertainers for our dealer group and start to deal with whatever is

16 BOSS TODAY | November/December 2009

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