An educational laptop and tablet supplier has demanded that its biggest rival apologise and retract emails it sent to schools that raised questions about its financial stability.
Brendan Kavanagh, chief executive of Olive Media, wrote to schools last week after he learned of an email they had received from Wriggle Learning, the biggest supplier of IT equipment to secondary schools in Ireland.
Wriggle is a rival to Kavanagh’s Olive for Education (OFE) in the lucrative market for supplying laptops and tablets to schools and students.
OFE has won dozens of school contracts with former Wriggle clients since it was set up three years ago.
READ MORE
In January OFE took a High Court action to block Ian Gaughran, OFE’s chief executive, from allegedly trying to divert its schools to a new business he was in the process of setting up.
That injunction application will be heard on March 13th. Gaughran, who is currently suspended by OFE, denies wrongdoing. His lawyers have told the court he has concerns about the financial viability of Olive companies. He claims he joined Olive from Microsoft and was promised a 60 per cent share in OFE, but this was not honoured.
Last week a senior Wriggle executive wrote to some schools sharing a copy of a recent Irish Times court report on the OFE injunction case.
[ Edtech company suspends chief executive over alleged attempt to divert businessOpens in new window ]
An email from Jamie Johnson, Wriggle’s head of educator development, said he wanted the school to be aware of OFE’s legal action and the claims made about Olive’s debts.
“These matters are before the courts and remain ongoing; however, given the critical importance of device availability, repair operations, support continuity and programme stability for schools, we believe it is prudent that school leaders are fully informed of developments that could potentially impact future supply or service delivery,” he wrote.
He offered the school an “independent review” of its device supply availability for the coming academic year and to discuss contingency plans. He said Wriggle would be “happy to assist confidentially and without obligation”.
This communication prompted a response from Brendan Kavanagh in an email sent to a wide range of schools, including non-OFE customers.
Kavanagh said he wanted to speak “plainly” about media reports and the “unsolicited” Wriggle email he had learned had been sent to school principals.
He said Olive had taken legal action over allegations that a senior employee and a contractor were planning to divert OFE business away from the company. He expected the matter to be resolved within two weeks. He said Olive took the case to protect its business and school partners.
“It is not a sign of instability,” wrote Kavanagh. “It demonstrates that we will act decisively to protect the programmes we run with your school.”
He was aware Wriggle had circulated media articles on the case and raised questions about Olive’s financial position and ability to deliver services.
“Those statements are untrue and unfounded,” he said, adding that Olive has been in business for 20 years and operated globally.
“Olive is financially sound, fully resourced and operational,” he said. “Our supplier relationships are with the largest vendors in Ireland for devices and support are in good standing.”
He said Olive’s solicitors were instructed to write to Wriggle “requiring an apology and retraction of the statements made to schools”.
“We take the trust you place in us seriously, and we will not allow it to be undermined by a competitor seeking commercial advantage,” he said.
Kavanagh’s email said he was available to talk to any school.
Olive declined to comment on the emails. A Wriggle spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on other organisations or competitors. Our focus remains on delivering the best possible service to our customers.”
