Paxton increases US focus

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Paxton Access, a manufacturer of IP access control and door systems, in early September announced additional investment and a strategic restructuring to its U.S. market approach.

“We've reached the stage with Paxton Inc. in the Americas where our business, the size of business that we've grown to, necessitates an adjustment of structure … for ultimately an accelerated level of investment,” Gareth O'Hara, Paxton's global sales and marketing director, told Security Systems News.

Paxton has its sights on exceeding the $50 million revenue mark in the U.S., according to O'Hara; currently, its U.S. revenue is around $10 million. The U.S. represents between 15- and 20 percent of Paxton's turnover, O'Hara said, and that presence has been growing at about 80 percent year-over-year. The company has a presence in 40 different countries, he said.

The company will double its head count in the U.S. as part of this initiative, from 20 employees to 40. “We are getting demand from wider spanning areas across the Americas where we need to start having sales people where we don't have them today,” he said. The company is currently in “recruitment mode and we would like to have all positions in the company fulfilled in preparation for January 1, 2017.”

“We're moving to a more functional reporting structure,” O'Hara said. “Ultimately, the sales organization will be reporting into a dedicated VP of sales. Our operations element will be reporting into a VP of operations, and for other administrative and HR functions, that will be reporting into our VP of business administration.” The company is currently interviewing for these three positions, O'Hara said.

"Historically, we've had a more regional management structure,” he continued.

Paxton was founded in the UK and has a U.S. office here. The company has about 300 employees globally with the goal of having more than 500 employees worldwide by 2020, O'Hara said.

The company is launching Paxton Blu, a cloud-based access control system. The company exhibited the new product at ASIS 2016.

Paxton Blu is the company's first cloud-based system. “The accelerated research and development into the cloud based access control was based primarily on the demands of the U.S. market,” O'Hara said.

“I think it's true to say that the U.S. is pioneering the demand for the majority of the cloud-based systems,” he noted. There are other markets where cloud is important, he added, “but I would say that, in terms of access control, the U.S. is absolutely dominating the demand for that product right now.”