Softcat takes 3,700 calls for Comic Relief pledges

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Marlow, UK, 18 March 2013 – 140 Softcat staff and family members rallied together on Friday night to take over 3,700 phone calls for Comic Relief, raising a substantial amount of money through public donations. The phone lines opened at 6pm at Softcat’s headquarters in Marlow, following a day of enthusiastic fundraising and fancy dress which saw the IT reseller raising £35,000 from company, employee and vendor donations.

At 5.30pm on Friday the IT Reseller transformed its headquarters into a Comic Relief call centre, and employees queued up to man the phones and do their part. The team of volunteers included Softcat employees, friends and family of employees, and representatives from many of Softcat’s vendor partners. During the evening, Softcat provided refreshments for those on the phones, and entertainment for phone operators including ‘Caller Bingo’, where operators sought to gain points by clocking up callers with a certain surname or who donated a specific amount.

Charles Harman and Michael Walker, Softcat’s chief charity representatives, were thrilled to have secured Softcat as one of the call centres: “We’re always fundraising as a company – we just can’t get enough of it! It’s good to do something new – and it’s a privilege to have been able to support Comic Relief, especially on its 25th anniversary. The team at Softcat have outdone themselves this year.”

Softcat’s chairman Martin Hellawell agreed, saying: “I’m so proud of the Softcat team. Charity work is fundamental to the Softcat ethos; it’s great to give something back, and it fuels our strong teamwork ethic. Comic Relief is one of our biggest charity efforts, and hosting a call centre enabled us to directly assist in raising a substantial amount of money in the space of just six hours.” He added, “I’d like to thank the generosity of our vendors HP, Dell, Adobe, Symantec, Samsung, Sony, Kaspersky, Red Hat and VMware, who all made donations during our fundraising efforts on Thursday.”

For more information please contact:

Mary Stringer

Resonates SLM Ltd

Tel: 44 (0) 1635 898 390

softcat@resonates.com

www.resonates.com

About Softcat

Softcat (www.softcat.com) is a leading provider of software licensing, hardware, security and related IT services. Softcat, founded in 1993 by chairman and majority shareholder Peter Kelly, remains privately owned and currently employs more than 500 people. It achieved a turnover in excess of £307 million in its last financial year and has been profitable since inception, resulting in a strong balance sheet and very firm financial foundations.

The company sells and supports products and solutions from all the world's leading IT companies. On all its portfolio products and solutions it offers a full range of services, including advice and guidance, technical design, product sourcing, implementation, support and project management. It enjoys a trading relationship with over 5,000 longstanding customers, predominantly from the UK corporate sector but also including large enterprises, small businesses and public sector organisations.

As an organisation Softcat cares passionately about two things – outstanding employee satisfaction and world class customer service. It believes the former drives the latter.

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Quotes

Charity work is fundamental to the Softcat ethos; it’s great to give something back, and it fuels our strong teamwork ethic. Comic Relief is one of our biggest charity efforts, and hosting a call centre enabled us to directly assist in raising a substantial amount of money in the space of just six hours.
Martin Hellawell