Talk:Getronics

Does anybody know ...

What this company does? Should that info be included in the lead? In the body text? -Roxy the elfin dog . wooF 16:05, 21 July 2020 (UTC)

Sarcasm will get you nowhere Roxy. You should know that! Roxy the dog 23:49, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Request edit on 13 February 2025

• Why it should be changed: Hello Wikipedia Editors,

I would like to request some updates to the Getronics Wikipedia page to reflect more current and accurate information. I am an employee of Getronics, so I am submitting this request in line with Wikipedia’s conflict of interest (COI) guidelines rather than making direct edits myself. My goal is to:

• Shorten and streamline the text for clarity.
• Update outdated information (e.g., Chairperson, Parent Company, etc.).
• Improve section organisation for better readability.
• Edit down sections on acquisitions, as previously suggested by another user, to maintain a balanced and concise historical overview.

Below are the suggested changes along with reliable sources for verification.

If any of the suggested edits do not meet Wikipedia’s guidelines, I’d appreciate any guidance on how they can be adjusted to align with Wikipedia’s standards. Thank you for your time and consideration!

• What I think should be changed:

Proposed update:

Getronics is a multinational ICT services company specialising in digital workplace solutions, cloud computing, IT support, smart buildings, and cybersecurity. Founded in 1887, the company operates in Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, employing approximately 4,000 people. Getronics is a founding member of the Global Workspace Alliance (GWA), a consortium of IT service providers covering over 180 countries. Since 2023, Getronics has been majority-owned by Cheyne Capital. In 2024, Stuart Deignan was appointed CEO.

 Done Encoded  Talk 💬 08:04, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

[Section–History] [Sub section] 1887–1988: Founding and early years Getronics was founded in 1887 as N.V. Groeneveld, van der Poll & Co's Electrotechnische Fabriek Amsterdam (GVPC), specialising in electrical installations and maritime monitoring solutions. Over the 20th century, the company evolved into Groenpol NV, expanding its industrial services across Europe. In 1985, it was listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, paving the way for its transformation into Getronics.

{ Not done Per WP:PROMO, retained existing content Encoded  Talk 💬 08:04, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

[Sub section] 1988–2011: Growth and industry influence

Rebranded as Getronics NV in 1988, the company shifted toward IT services and networking. A pivotal moment came in 1999 with the acquisition of Wang Global, which expanded Getronics' footprint to 42 countries, establishing it as a major ICT services provider.

In 2007, Getronics was acquired by Dutch telecom giant KPN for €766 million. This led to operational restructuring, including the divestment of its U.S. division to CompuCom and the sale of business units to Capgemini and Total Specific Solutions between 2008 and 2009.

 Partly done Reworded slightly per WP:PROMO Encoded  Talk 💬 08:04, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

[Sub section] 2012–present: Strategic transformations

KPN sold the majority of Getronics' European and APAC operations to Aurelius Group in 2012, while LATAM operations were acquired separately. Under Aurelius, Getronics expanded through acquisitions, including NEC’s UCC business and Colt’s cloud services division.

In 2017, Bottega InvestCo acquired Getronics, fuelling further global expansion with the acquisition of U.S.-based Pomeroy. Subsequent ownership changes occurred, with GSH Private Capital taking control in 2020, followed by Cheyne Capital in 2023. In 2024, Cheyne refinanced the company, ensuring financial stability, and appointed Stuart Deignan as CEO.

 Partly done Reworded slightly per WP:PROMO Encoded  Talk 💬 08:04, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

[Section–Corporate structure and leadership] Senior leadership team As of February 2025, the senior leadership team of Getronics includes:

Chairman / Non-Executive Director: Laurie Mcilwee Non-Executive Director: Sharon Lowrie Chief Executive Officer: Stuart Deignan Chief Operating Officer: Andre Ribbens Chief Financial Officer: Mike Field Chief Technology Officer: Harsha Gowda Chief Commercial Officer: Elisabete Mleckzak

Previous CEOs: Andre Ribbens (2023-2024), Kenton Fine (2020–2024), Nana Baffour (2017–2019), Mark Cook (2013-2017), Andreas Ziegenhein (2012-2013), Steven Schilfgaarde (2011-2013), Erik van der Meijden (2007-2011), Klaas Wagenaar (2003-2007), Peter van Voorst (2001-2003), Cees van Luijk RA (1999-2001), Ton Risseeuw (1983-1999).

 Not done Please provide a reliable source Encoded  Talk 💬 08:04, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

[Section–Global Workspace Alliance] The Global Workspace Alliance (GWA) is an IT service consortium co-founded by Getronics. It facilitates IT service delivery in over 180 countries through a network of partner companies, including CompuCom, SPIE, and Indra. In April 2016, the alliance launched GWA 2.0, focusing on collaborative innovation and shared intellectual property among its members.

{ Not done Please provide a reliable source Encoded  Talk 💬 08:04, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

• References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button):

1.

References

--82.46.120.2 (talk) 10:06, 13 February 2025 (UTC) 82.46.120.2 (talk) 10:06, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

Could you please format your suggested changes in a way that makes it clear what is being changed? A possible format can be found at WP:MAKINGEREQ.

Also, the language here is nnnnot great. "solutions", "paving the way for its transformation", "establishing it as a major IT service provider" unsourced, "ensuring financial stability" sourced to a press release type article which as far as I can says nothing about financial stability, etc etc. This is all extremely corpspeak. Rusalkii (talk) 01:26, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Request Edit June 2025

I am an employee of Getronics, so I am submitting this request in line with Wikipedia’s conflict of interest (COI) guidelines rather than making direct edits myself. I’m working on proposals to improve the page, which has multiple problems. I’m being advised by WhiteHatWiki. Here are my first two requests.

1. In the lead, please replace the last sentence of the second paragraph from: Since 2024, Stuart Deignan has taken over the position as CEO of Getronics.

To: In 2024, the company completed a refinancing process with Cheyne Capital, and Stuart Deignan became the CEO.

Why it should be changed: I added missing citations and rewrote to include the refinancing with Cheyne Capital, which is an update to the first sentence in this paragraph about their latest financing. A “refinancing” is essentially a sale to another firm, but this isn’t detailed in the press coverage, so I followed their description. This information is already in the body of the article. The first article from Computer World is in Spanish, but here is the translation of the information relevant to my request:

Getronics has announced two significant developments affecting its business. The first is the completion of a refinancing process with Cheyne Capital, which secures a financial foundation that will support its growth plans and future strategic investments.

2. Please delete the “Board chairpersons” section.

Why it should be changed: This section has only two citations verifying two names on the list – both of which are broken links. So the section fails WP:VERIFY. But even if every name could be verified, a comprehensive list of all of a company’s chairpeople is not consistent with the structure of almost any other articles about companies. I have looked through the GAs about companies and could not find any that had a dedicated section to Board Chairpeople, or even a listing of all previous chairpeople. Article structure should generally be consistent in structure of a similar article, under MOS:STYLE.

@Rusalkii: since you recently reviewed a related Request Edit.

References

Orchid1020 (talk) 15:13, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

Regarding Request #1, should the paragraph be there at all? The ownership change is already described in "2012–present." The current CEO's name could go in the infobox.

The latest change is is described as a "refinancing" by MicroScope (Note 11 in the existing page). Isn't this a better description than "refinancing process"? While I know what it means to refinance a mortgage, I really don't know what this kind of "refinancing" is.

Speaking of info boxes, the "key people" all have broken links. I will remove the brackets from their names. Julian in LA (talk) 23:23, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Implemented Change #2 Julian in LA (talk) 23:24, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Refinancing: my quick search indicates that the private equity owner didn't refinance anything. Instead, they had Getronics pay off their existing debt with some combination of new borrowing and new equity capital. See https://app.termgrid.com/glossary/refinancing-refi-termgrid-glossary/ Julian in LA (talk) 23:32, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Implemented Change #1 Julian in LA (talk) 00:03, 18 July 2025 (UTC)

There are many possibilities when it comes to refinancing - it looks like the specific form wasn’t disclosed in the press. Wikipedia can point readers in the right direction by at least mentioning that there was a refinancing, which was covered in the press. In my understanding of Wikipedia policy, we can only use reliable sources as citations. In this case, I’d like to suggest changing “refinancing process” to refinancing with the Computer World citation is still accurate. The sentence I’m suggesting is this:

In 2024, the company completed refinancing with Cheyne Capital, and Stuart Deignan became the CEO.

On whether that sentence belongs in the lead and in the History section, it’s important enough to already be mentioned in both sections of the current article. The suggested changes I made are for the inclusion of missing citations and internal Wikipedia links.

Added requested link. I assume that the existing citations satisfy your request. Julian in LA (talk) 01:06, 20 July 2025 (UTC)

Request Edit July 2025

I am an employee of Getronics, so I am submitting this request in line with Wikipedia’s conflict of interest (COI) guidelines rather than making direct edits myself. I’m working on proposals to improve the page, which has multiple problems. I’m being advised by User:Brucemyboy1212 at WhiteHatWiki.

1. In the lead, move the second sentence that reads:

Getronics has over 2000 customers, including Credit Agricole, Intersnack, and Inditex, as well as Ford Motors, which the company has served for over 35 years.

To the “History” section, “2012-present” subsection as the new third paragraph. Replace the text with the following:

As of 2020, Getronics had over 2000 customers and employed 4,000 employees across Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

Why: I’m requesting this sentence be moved because it discusses the company’s clients. I reviewed WP:Good Articles about companies such as [1] and [2] (these are the diffs for the date the GA status was awarded.) I noticed when there are mentions of clients, these are included in the History section. I also rewrote the sentence to add the number of employees (which is mentioned in the lead, but nowhere else in the article), the date for historical context and a reliable source instead of a missing citation.

I removed the information about specific customers (i.e. Ford, Credit Agricole, etc.), as I couldn’t find a source to support this information.

2. In the “History” section, “1887–1988” subsection, remove the first sentence that reads:

In 1887, the company was created as N.V. Groeneveld, van der Poll & Co's Electrotechnische Fabriek Amsterdam (GVPC). The enterprise was involved with electrical installations, such as the monitoring and control of public facilities and shipping.

Why: The paragraph is redundant - a previous editor added a new second paragraph that repeats this information. I’ll address the missing citations in the paragraph I’d suggest keeping in the next request.

3. In the “History” section, “1887–1988” subsection, replace the sentence in the new first paragraph that reads:

Getronics was founded in 1887 as N.V. Groeneveld, van der Poll & Co's Electrotechnische Fabriek Amsterdam (GVPC), specialising in electrical installations and maritime monitoring solutions.

With:

Getronics was founded in 1887 by Dutch firm N.V. Groeneveld, van der Poll & Co., which created Electrotechnische Fabriek Amsterdam, a subsidiary that specialized in electrical installations and maritime monitoring solutions.

Why: I rewrote the sentence to clarify that Getronics was originally founded as a subsidiary of a larger firm, added the origin country and found a source where there had been none.

4. In the new first paragraph of the “History” section, “1887–1988” subsection, move the second sentence that reads:

Over the 20th century, the company evolved into Groenpol NV, expanding its industrial services across Europe.

To create a new second paragraph, and then replace it with:

In 1950, Groeneveld merged its sales and distribution department with Electrotechnische Fabriek Amsterdam, and changed the company’s name to Groenpol NV.

Why: I added the date the company’s name changed, what led to the name change, and a citation where there was none. A new paragraph is suggested because this sentence talks about a different decade in the company’s history than the previous sentence.

5. In the new first paragraph of the “History” section, “1887–1988” subsection, move the third sentence that reads:

In 1985, it was listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, paving the way for its transformation into Getronics.

To create a new third paragraph, and then replace it with:

In 1985, Geveke was listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.

Why: A new paragraph is suggested because this sentence talks about a different decade in the company’s history. I removed “paving the way for its transformation into Getronics” because it has a promotional tone. I added the name of the company as it was listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (Geveke), as well as a reliable source where there had been none.Orchid1020 (talk) 08:09, 21 July 2025 (UTC)