How ‘UK & Ireland’ became ‘UK & Ignore’
Way back in the dim, distant past, companies like IBM and HP used to have local distributors to handle their products in Ireland. The likes of Clarity and Sharptext were big noises in the Irish market. Several vendors had country managers for Ireland.
Over time, the large multinationals, such as Computer 2000, came to assume a more prominent role in distribution in Ireland. In 2009 for example, after Clarity was acquired by Westcoast, HP changed its distribution structure in Ireland, jettisoning Sharptext and appointing Clarity and Computer 2000.
This was to be the beginning of a trend. Over time, more and more vendors changed their strategies, combining Ireland with their UK operations. The label ‘UK & Ireland’ became ubiquitous in vendor job titles and distribution contracts. As a much smaller market – Ireland was frequently compared to Manchester in size – combining the two countries diminished the influence that Irish channel partners could exert on vendors and the attention they could expect from them.
The assumption underlying the adoption of the UK & Ireland model was that both countries had longstanding ties and were broadly similar in terms of language, economics and culture, as well as being very close geographically. They were both islands off the coast of Europe, both perceived as having closer connections to the US than the other European countries. Both were viewed as “bridges” to Europe for companies from the United States because they spoke English. Culturally, there was a lot of crossover between all three.
The other advantage was that both were members of the EU, even if their approach to that organisation was markedly different. Nevertheless, clumping Ireland in with the UK seemed an eminently sensible model even if, in many ways, it wasn’t quite as simple as people might think.
Enter Brexit
It’s fair to say that 23 June 2016 threatened to play havoc with this state of affairs. But actually, in some ways, Brexit brought some advantages to Ireland with UK channel partners opening operations on the island to ensure a presence in the EU. Furthermore, Ireland’s position as the sole remaining EU member with English as its first language helped to solidify its position as a major partner for US companies operating in the EU. Several adventurous Irish companies began to increase their operations in the UK.
Things began to settle back into normality. Despite Brexit, there was very little impetus to separate the UK and Ireland in job titles or contracts. Instead, the label was frequently abbreviated to UK&I.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure where the inspiration came from to reduce Ireland to a solitary capital I. It’s not something that I remember seeing anywhere else and people could be forgiven for thinking it slightly demeaning.
As the junior partner in this geographical marriage of convenience, perhaps it’s not surprising that Ireland has been abbreviated almost out of existence. But it’s strange when the ‘I’ is part of a huge trading bloc of 27 countries and the UK is a single, solitary island caught in the middle between the EU and the US, having blown up the bridge it prided itself on building between the two.
In this context, it’s perhaps no surprise that some cynics have started referring to UK&I as ‘UK&Ignore’ although, with more than 60 million people, it’s understandable that the UK is probably considered too big to ignore by IT vendors and distributors.
Ireland has been a good European over the years, but it has always had something of a split personality because of its closeness to the UK geographically and economically to the US, seeking to enjoy the best of both worlds.
But things are shifting. Ireland is heavily dependent on US multinationals – someone on the radio quipped that the country has gone from a colony to a subsidiary – but it’s also strategically important for their business in the EU. The UK, on the other hand, no longer enjoys that distinction, having demoted itself to the role of outsider. In that context, it’s strange that it is Ireland which is the one being “ignored”.
Who knows? The differences that have emerged between Ireland and the UK since the Brexit vote may well widen over time and we could reach a point where the question will be how tightly the two can remain linked by something as tenuous as an ampersand.
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