Soho equipment reseller Red Lorry Yellow Lorry (RLYL) is pulling out of the broadcast industry and moving into corporate marketing, writes Will Strauss.
From this week, RLYL will stop selling Discreet kit and instead will concentrate on wireless marketing, public relations, content design and what the company called "direct response" - a customer relations service for corporate companies.
It is the latest technology-related company to decide that "TV doesn't make money any more", after a similar admission from Sony Business Europe ( Broadcast, 16.12.02).
Talking exclusively to Broadcastthis week, RLYL director Guy Walsingham said: "Our reseller business is based on a high level of service and support and this model no longer fits. Why should we spend 60 to 70 per cent of our time on selling kit when it makes us so little money. The market is going nowhere at the minute and if we had left it for 12 months who knows what state it would be in."
Walsingham went on to stress that all current customer service agreements will be honoured, that all staff will retain their jobs and that the company would in all other respects be doing business as usual. "We've better than broken even over the past four years but companies don't go into business to break even. The first three years in business allowed us to bank sufficient money to invest in areas where we can see the business growing - and in turn make some money," he said.
He did not rule out a move back into the reseller arena in the future.
Meanwhile, fellow reseller Root 6 has refuted rumours that it will soon be losing its licence to sell Avid gear. Company director John Harris said: "That's not true at all. Avid is looking for one main reseller but we will still continue to sell Avid kit for the foreseeable future."
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