FluidOne, a provider of connected cloud solutions, has announced the acquisition of Brighton-based IT managed service provider Computer and Network Consultants Limited (CNC).
Established 27 years ago by co-founders Graham Lind and Gary Jowett, CNC provides quality IT services to SMEs across Sussex and Hampshire.
The acquisition follows that of Highlander Computing Solutions in January 2023 and projectfive in April 2023, building on FluidOne’s strategy to invest in regional IT MSPs to create a branch network for expertly delivered localised services for its SME customers.
The investment in CNC has expanded the Business IT Centre of Excellence (CoE) for FluidOne to £37m revenue, with 1,100 customers, 164 employees and five branch offices led from Highlander’s Sheffield headquarters.
CNC will operate as a separate branch with a dedicated management team, continuing to be led by co-founder Graham Lind as managing director of the Brighton branch and supported by co-founder Gary Jowett as operations and marketing director.
The branch will report to Steve Brown as managing director of the FluidOne Business IT CoE, ensuring that customers benefit from local account management and engineering, with best practise and a wider services portfolio supported by centralised leadership. Russell Horton, FluidOne group CEO, will assume the role of chairman for CNC.
Russell Horton, FluidOne CEO, said: “I am pleased to announce the acquisition of CNC, which builds on our strategy to create a branch network for expertly delivered IT managed services to Business customers.
“When reviewing the business, I was impressed with the excellent service they deliver and the strength of relationships that the team build with their clients.
“This was reinforced by great customer feedback in our survey and an excellent NPS of 60. They are a great fit for our strategy, and I look forward to working with Graham Lind, Gary Jowett and the team to grow the Brighton business.”
Graham Lind, CNC founder and managing director, added: “Gary and I are very proud of the CNC business and our great team of staff. We have experienced strong growth over the past two years and customer feedback of the services they require going forward from their IT support partner has given us the ambition to accelerate our growth and deliver quality services to even more local businesses.
“Having met with Russell, Steve and the wider FluidOne team, we see a great opportunity to build CNC as the trusted local IT provider whilst benefiting from expert overlay in connectivity, mobile, Unified Communications and Cyber from the wider FluidOne group.
“We see a strong match in culture and putting the customer first with FluidOne, and the acquisition offers fantastic career opportunities to the CNC team.”
