Following the acquisition of PAC GDX by Comelit Group, SJUK caught up with Francesca Boeris, UK Managing Director.
Why has Comelit decided to make this acquisition?
Comelit strongly believes that an access control portfolio was the missing range to complete our mission to offer our customers a comprehensive solution to suit all security requirements. PAC GDX is the ideal mix of innovation and reliability in the access control and door entry range and perfectly complements Comelit’s door entry portfolio.
Rebranded now as Comelit-PAC, customers will benefit from shared research and development capabilities alongside significant investment in all aspects of the new business, from personnel to physical office locations and of course, product development. Here, we will be able to benefit from our united strengths and knowledge.
How will this acquisition impact the way Comelit operates day-to-day?
From now, our entire staff (90+ employees; all previous PAC-GDX and all previous Comelit UK employees) will be part of the newly formed Comelit PAC Ltd company.
Our UK headquarters will be based in Luton, which will encompass Comelit technical and sales support along with the Comelit-PAC finance team and warehousing for all brands; it is also home to our state-of-the-art training facilities for smart security and fire safety. In addition, a new competence centre and office in Manchester will be home to PAC GDX marketing, technical and sales support along with research and development and HR.
In the UK, I will continue in my role as Managing Director of the newly formed Comelit-PAC company and I will be joined by Steve Riley as PAC GDX Business Division Director. We have also made changes within the business, promoting Justin Hawkesford to Operations Director of Comelit-PAC to ensure seamless processes from a technical, product and service perspective for the benefit of all our customers.
What benefits will it bring to Comelit customers?
We believe this is an exciting time for new and existing Comelit customers. Under the newly formed and re-branded Comelit-Pac company, the acquisition of PAC GDX will enable Comelit to offer customers total integrated solutions, inclusive of networked access control systems together with door entry, CCTV, home automation, intruder alarm and fire detection systems.
PAC GDX is known for its impressive market presence and a very experienced team. Together we are stronger and current partners in the market will benefit from our heavy investment in areas such as research and development, an enhanced service offering and increased support in delivering innovative new products.
The plan for us is to continue its great work and support and further develop existing routes to market as well as discover new opportunities for security and fire safety.
What impact will it have on existing PAC GDX customers?
From a PAC GDX perspective, customers are already aware of how strong Comelit’s current offering is and can now benefit from the synergies of us combining forces. Comelit-PAC presents an all-encompassing solution, enabling our team to work with customers right from initial design and specification through to project completion, utilising a complete smart product portfolio.
From a personnel perspective, the newly aligned company and offices will work closely together to guarantee the natural continuity of business. We have ensured no schedule of works will be affected by the acquisition and we encourage PAC GDX customers to maintain conversations with their specific point of contact.
We are looking ahead to the range of opportunities for our customers, new and existing – as well as the market as a whole – that our innovative proposition will provide.
How do you think it will affect the wider access control market?
Comelit-PAC’s new strapline is ‘with you always’ and this is a true sentiment to how it will affect the wider access control market. As a newly formed company we will be able to provide single solutions right from initial design processes and into a number of sector opportunities, right through to project completion, maintenance, upgrade and monitoring of systems throughout their lifecycle.
The wider choice capability now provided to our customers will also lead to increased margins through the ease of install; this is something which is instilled within the entirety of our product portfolio. This, together with the opportunity to integrate products, will ensure more opportunities for Comelit-Pac distributors to lead in the access control market with increased choice of product portfolio.
Ultimately, what has been created is a one-stop-shop that is high on quality and instilled with the essence of passion, design and technology, something that is reflective of the core philosophy of Comelit.
What are the main trends and developments in the access control sector currently?
The events of the last couple of years, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, have undoubtedly shaped the access control sector.
The biggest impact has been the focus on going mobile. Whilst the shift to mobile access control was certainly a growing trend prior to the onset of the pandemic, it was accelerated by concerns surrounding health, safety and sanitisation brought to the forefront of people’s minds as the presence of the virus increased.
Comelit has certainly seen increased requests for its smart security systems to be monitored and controlled via our dedicated app and voice activated solutions. This has increased alongside requests for the practical benefits of mobile credentials using BLE (Bluetooth low energy) that enable both multi-modal and multi-factor authentication.
Biometrics were another big adoption, especially contactless technology. Facial recognition has come into its own as organisations adopt it for identity verification and access control. Moving forward, touchless fingerprints, iris, palm, voice and even vain pattern, may also impact the market. The world of cloud and SaaS services is another big trend which we see coming through. Traditionally, organisations would purchase hardware such as readers, panels and cards then wire the system to an on-site server. Installation, testing and maintenance were manually conducted.
With subscription-based systems, hardware like readers and panels remain on site, but servers, software and data reside at the provider’s data centre. It’s a centralised way to manage all access, have 24/7 support and receive the benefits of a large solution provider.
Comelit is encouraging all of its customers, together with PAC GDX, to continue with “business as usual.” To find out more information about the work the two companies are doing, visit: www.comelitgroup.com and www.pacgdx.com
This article was originally published in the December edition of Security Journal UK. To read your FREE digital edition, visit: digital.securityjournaluk.com