onemedia is a UK based specialist distributor and full-service provider of AV and workplace solutions.
Thanks to a wide portfolio that includes the highest quality brands and a team consisting of specialized technicians, onemedia is chosen by both global and local corporate, educational, and commercial partners.
Their latest implementations include digital signage and wayfinding solutions at some of the UK’s leading Universities and a prestigious Datapath deployment at ITV News, in their London headquarters.
Following a management buy out, former Midwich directors Iain Campbell and Lee Baker have reinforced the onemedia board of Chris Wood, John Jeffreys and Will Hetherington. Here, we will talk to Baker, who recently took up the role of Commercial Director at onemedia, to discover the company’s expectations for the future.
Iwona Wierzbanowska, AV Tech Magazine: Hello Lee! First of all, congratulations on your new role at onemedia. Tell us and our readers what’s your professional history and how you got in touch with onemedia.
Lee Baker: In the 1990s, my career started in retail, specifically at PC World, where my focus was primarily on computer-related products. Obviously, that was in the early days of computers. I worked there for about five years, and in 2002 I moved up to East Anglia. At that moment, I wanted to change my professional environment, and I came across an advertisement for Midwich, then recognized as an IT distributor specializing in computers, laptops, and servers.
Midwich marked a significant phase of my professional development. I progressed at the company and ended up running the PC team. After some time, I left Midwich for a little bit and went to work for one of the manufacturers called Acer, which is still making laptops nowadays.
After Midwich’s management buyout in 2004, the newly appointed Managing Director invited me to return. I rejoined Midwich in the beginning of 2005 and set up their display division. Over the next 14 years, I was part of the Group’s senior management team and the executive management team, and I was involved in setting up a number of new categories, such as displays, audio, accessories and video conferencing.
I decided to take a bit of a break in 2019, and that went on for a bit longer because of the pandemic. Later on, I set up a company with Gordon Dutch, doing marketing, press, and PR services and a lot of work on sales strategies for companies. I did that for two and a half years, but really the whole time I was looking for something new, something a bit bigger. And obviously, I’ve always enjoyed working in distribution, particularly with a manufacturer. So when I had the opportunity to start discussions with the guys at onemedia, I was really keen to progress.
What is onemedia’s offering, and what are the strongest points that distinguish onemedia in the UK audiovisual market?
The thing that attracted me the most is the people. You know, there’s a really good-quality team of experienced people in AV. What I also really like about onemedia is that they’re very focused on how they work with the manufacturers. onemedia doesn’t cooperate with a huge number of manufacturers in each category – with one partner for each, whether it be signage or some other category. They work very closely through the whole sales cycle and talk to the manufacturers about what technology needs to be used in the market.
A very small batch of non-competing vendors allows to really focus and work closely with each other. If you mix that with a highly skilled and experienced team, I think it’s a really good way to move forward.
How do you support your partners in their day-to-day activities?
There are a number of different things done to support the dealers. The team is helping with the projects all the way through. They’re involved in a very early stage, working with the integrators in terms of designing the specified system, all the way through to supply and demand when an order gets closed. A lot of support services and training are done as well. And over the year, a number of events are organized where the integrators can get to know the technology.
Among the brands you distribute, there are many strong players. Tell us a bit about your brands and if you have plans to extend the distribution offering.
Initially, we have plans on how we can scale the business while maintaining a strong technical focus on distribution. We would like to maintain cooperation with our existing partners. So we want to offer more services to our current partners and assist in growing their businesses. This is our top priority. To achieve this, we are thinking of various investment strategies. We are also cautious not to introduce competing vendors in categories we already cover. Instead, we are exploring untapped areas such as audio, UC, or displays. We’ll be very careful about who we pick for future cooperation because the model that we want to operate has to be with the right manufacturers.
AV Tech Magazine: In line with your philosophy, kind of, right? So that you can cooperate smoothly.
Yes. We’re not focused on identifying the biggest players in any specific area. It’s not about obtaining the largest vendor in a particular category. We believe that if a manufacturer is seeking a partner aligned with our approach—one that has the technical expertise—it’s a great fit for us. We’re not aiming to be a broadliner; instead, we’re positioning ourselves as a technical distributor.
To whom do you address your services?
Our partners are not in one specific area. The dealers are diverse and manage a broad spectrum of clients, particularly in the higher education, corporate, and retail sectors. So it’s both IT and AV, and within there they deal with a reasonable broad section of end-user markets. In retail, they are heavily involved in signage solutions. Signage, as you know, spans across multiple applications, including office environments, universities, outdoor spaces, and retail. Therefore, they cover quite a lot of areas.
You have extensive experience in sales and in the AV industry. What are, in your opinion, the new challenges and opportunities in the next few years that you and onemedia will face?
I think it’s quite an exciting period for the AV/UC space. In the last few years, there have been big shifts in the market. Obviously, the pandemic changed the market by introducing more web-based video solutions.
However, as businesses gradually return to offices and physical spaces, there’s a shift back to traditional modes of operation. So I think it’s quite an exciting time for a company like onemedia to work very closely with the manufacturers to target a lot of different markets.
But I think in the UK, from a distribution point of view, you’ve got quite a few small distributors that have popped up and are being successful, and onemedia is part of that group. And then there’s a limited number of major players dominating the AV distribution space. So I do think there’s a chance for companies like onemedia to make some investments and forge strong partnerships with manufacturers. I think that model can be scaled, and it can be quite attractive for dealers.
Since you took on the role of Commercial Director, would you share with us the growth plans of onemedia? Where do you want to focus in the next few months?
Iain [Campbell] and I have recently re-entered the industry, and we’re thrilled to be back. The market seems to be quite vibrant, presenting many opportunities. We’re eager to dive in, and we believe that, with dedication and effort, our company has the potential to become one to watch in the future.
Your role as a Commercial Director will be to coordinate the sales team, or more specifically, to search for business partnerships?
Yes, my role is basically to optimize the business management function, particularly concerning the manufacturers we engage with. This includes strategizing vendor relationships and collaborating with our team to ensure we select the most suitable manufacturers and products for our market initiatives.
Thank you for giving us this interesting insight!
Thank you, a pleasure.
