CEO Outlook: Hardwired for success, with Colin Lynch, EPS Global

In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook series, EPS Global CEO Colin Lynch tells host Richard Curran the story of scaling internationally without external equity, making personal sacrifices to keep EPS Global afloat, and his plans to grow the company three-fold by 2025.

For a company like EPS Global, it is a remarkably busy time to be in business. Founded in Ireland in 1999, EPS Global is a distributor of specialised IT components and semiconductors used in high-growth areas including data storage, cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT). Today, the company has annual sales of €100m, locations across 23 countries, and a plan to scale even further on the back of unprecedented demand for its services.

Driving that growth is co-founder and CEO, Colin Lynch. An electrical engineer by training, Lynch spent 20-years as the company’s Business Development Director, expanding its global reach as far as China and building highly successful relationships with major brands including Alibaba, Google, and Bosch. Today, as CEO, he has a vision for further growth through external equity, M&A, and a possible IPO. They also discuss:

• Taking over the role of CEO after 20 years as Business Development Director – how he approached the new role and his priorities for the business
• Global shortages of electrical components during a time of great demand, and the opportunities therein
• The future of business travel and client relations in a post-Covid business world
• Creating a company culture based on trust
• His experience in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme.