Q&A: Simon West, Network Group

Can you give us an overview of what Network Group does and who it serves? 

Network Group is a member-owned, peer-to-peer community for MSPs and IT resellers. Having started out in 1994, we have grown to become a significant community, with close to 90 member organisations across the UK and Ireland. 

At its core, Network Group exists to help its members succeed through shared knowledge. In the fast-moving world of technology, having a trusted community of industry peers to lean on can make a huge difference. That’s exactly what Network Group offers.

Our goal is to help create and foster a community for members to grow, improve and successfully reach their potential. Achieving that means bringing likeminded organisations together to exchange ideas, highlight opportunities and tackle industry challenges.

The group has evolved a lot since it was set up 30 years ago. What does the member experience look like today?

Network Group has consistently had to mature as it’s grown. Originally, we were known as the Network Buying Group, or NBG. That’s because the organisation was set up due to the founders feeling that smaller retailers and resellers were being offered poor pricing and receiving inadequate services from account managers.

Some 30 years on, that mandate has changed. Focus has moved from buying to knowledge-sharing, and we now serve tens of Network Group members whose average revenues exceed £2m. That is incredibly beneficial. Buying is still in our DNA, and we ask SaaS [software as a service] vendors and hardware providers to treat us as a £200m organisation – our members still benefit from commercial opportunities including access to products and services through relationships with preferred partners and distributors, exclusive offers and rebates, and volume purchasing agreements. But we’re also constantly evolving our offering to ensure that it meets the needs of our members.

Today, the value of Network Group lies in knowledge-sharing, exchanging best practices, and being a trusted space where members can learn from each other. We recognise that, and work to provide a variety of collaborative opportunities, educational resources and development opportunities.

You’ve recently made a couple of important new hires. How will these help Network Group in the next phase of its growth?

A recent restructure at Network Group has helped to ensure that our members are extracting maximum value from their memberships. A few roles have changed, and we’ve had the opportunity to bring some new talent in as we work towards our three-year growth strategy.

The appointment of Jenny Langelaan as business development manager marks a strategic move by Network Group to accelerate its growth and deepen engagement with the UK and Ireland’s tech community. 

Her role is central to Network Group’s ambition to grow its membership to 150 over the next three years. This includes developing tailored marketing strategies aimed at attracting MSPs, MSSPs and IT businesses of all sizes. Jenny will also support existing members, helping them maximise the value of their membership, while expanding the group’s reach and impact.

More recently, we also welcomed Christopher Cassie as our business development manager for vendors. Chris’s 20 years of experience – including nine years at Apple, where he led the company’s vendor performance and quality initiatives – is invaluable. His role will focus on helping us to further improve our vendor partnerships, enabling us to bring our members the very best in value, service and support.  

You mentioned a three-year growth plan. What is it that you’re hoping to achieve in the coming years?

We want to expand from around 90 members to more than 150 in the next three years. More members mean more insights, more shared experiences and more mutual value. Our three-year growth strategy is focused on achieving this, elevating our impact for new and existing members alike. 

Specifically, our growth strategy is grounded in three key pillars: enhancing member experiences, driving sustainable growth and solidifying our position as a market leader. Those goals will in part be achieved through targeted educational and event content initiatives. They will also be supported by the development of structured peer groups that will facilitate deeper collaboration between members.

Tell us more about your education and content initiatives. What will members have access to?

From peer mentoring and vendor-led content to thought leadership insights and business maturity sessions, there’s a lot on offer. 

Our four annual events will remain a focal point, where members will have the opportunity to engage in a range of workshops. Recent examples include a pre-event session titled, Turn Sales into Profit: How to Scale Revenue Without Doing It All Yourself.

We’ve also launched specific tracks for marketing, technical, account management and service delivery. These are designed to bring specialists together through peer groups, enabling our member organisations to share knowledge and insights not only at the principal level, but at the operational level too.

Additionally, we recently launched our latest podcast, which has three distinct streams. The first, Lean Back While We Lean In, explores Network Group’s collaborative opportunities in more detail, explaining how businesses and MSPs can work together through partnership groups, benchmarking opportunities and wider outreach. The second, NGage: The MSP Sessions, focuses on specific business journeys, sharing key learnings through one-to-one interviews. And the third, NGage: The Vendor Sessions, is more of a vendor showcase that, again, we hope will bring value to all members.

How does the Network Group plan to maintain its close-knit community feel as membership expands? 

It’s a good question. I think what sets Network Group apart is that it is member-owned, meaning it is run for the members, by the members. There is a firm commitment to improving the member experience, and that will never change. 

We’re focused on ensuring we have the right members – companies that aren’t just here for the commercial opportunities, but want to engage with others and tell their story, their wins, their learnings. It’s on us to help instil that culture, creating a trusted space in which members can share knowledge, advice and best practices. The more organisations we have engaging in that, the better. We’re working hard to make that collaboration easy. 

Our summer event, Momentum, was all about building relationships. Hosted at Carden Park in Cheshire, this event gives our community valuable opportunities to spend quality time together through exciting team challenges and outdoor pursuits. It’s a chance for members and partners to be open, connect and strengthen relationships, all rounded off with a celebratory al-fresco dinner.

As we grow, we remain committed to initiatives like Momentum to ensure we keep that close-knit connection at the heart of our community.

Looking ahead, our final event of the year – ConfEx – will take place on 15–16 October at the Europa Hotel, Belfast. Ahead of the main event, we’re offering optional pre-day content focused on MSP M&A, delivered by established industry experts. The main day itself includes a half-day of content featuring panel discussions and keynotes, followed by an afternoon tabletop exhibition featuring the latest from our partners. It’s the perfect way to wrap up the year and prepare for what’s ahead.

What can members expect for the rest of the year?

Continuing to build momentum with our educational tracks across various MSP disciplines will be a key priority. The goal is to expand these programmes, connecting experts throughout our member companies to provide mutual insights and operational value.

Expanding, scaling and improving initiatives such as these will be key as we look for new ways to improve our member experience. As the tech landscape continues to shift, we strive to remain a steady, supportive industry presence, providing our members with a community that they can count on for shared insights and practical support.

In line with our three-year growth strategy, Network Group is investing in more resources, support and opportunities for members than ever before, so that our community can thrive through 2025 and beyond.