By Kristy Dorsey
Borders-based SoConnect, a provider of telecom, internet and IT managed services to the SME market, is looking for further growth opportunities after completing its second acquisition in little more than a year.
The St Boswells firm has taken over the operations of Edinburgh’s IT Centric in a deal that adds approximately 80 SMEs to its customer base, taking the total to more than 500 clients across the UK. The combined group has a headcount of 38 staff, with revenues expected to top £5 million in the year to March 2022.
Gordon Sayers, founder and managing director of IT Centric, and non-executive director David Ellis will join the board of SoConnect as part of the deal. Mr Sayers set up IT Centric in 2004, while Mr Ellis is a former partner at accountancy group PwC.
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This latest acquisition come just 13 months after SoConnect, set up in 2011 by chief executive Campbell Fraser, took over Edinburgh-based Netopa in a bolt-on deal. Mr Fraser has not ruled out the possibility of further acquisitions in the next 12 to 18 months.
“Having successfully integrated Netopa in 2020, we look forward to another smooth integration over the next few months and are excited to welcome Gordon, David and the team,” he said. "As with the Netopa acquisition, we are in a position of real financial strength including with around 80 per cent of our contracted revenue being recurring revenue, and we have again self-funded the acquisition.”
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Mr Fraser said the addition of IT Centric will strengthen the company’s cloud, cybersecurity and hosted services offering, an important consideration going forward: “We are now even better-placed to support UK-wide SMEs’ remote workforces in the wake of Covid-19 and what will be the new ways of working.”
Mr Sayers added: “I look forward to helping to drive the combined value of the business alongside Campbell and the leadership team at SoConnect.”
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