Maintel shows transformation progress in FY24 numbers

Maintel has been a business in transition, both in terms of leadership and strategy, but there are signs it is heading in the right direction. The firm has shared numbers for the fiscal year (FY) ended 31 December 2024, with profitability rising significantly during the period.

For FY24 Maintel reported a 3.4% decline in group revenue to £97.9m. It was always going to be a difficult year when comparing it to 2023, which was bolstered by orders that had been delayed because of the pandemic. The revenue performance represented underlying growth of 8.2% in 2024.

Pre-tax profits improved by 1-5.9% to hit 0.4m and reverse a £6.8m loss in the prior year, which was the clearest signs that its efforts to move away from being a comms generalist to a specialist focused on unified comms and collaboration, customer experience, and security and connectivity, was working.

Dan Davies, who has been interim for a year, was the firm’s CEO in February at a time when the business was already looking to transform to concentrate on specific growth areas.

“It is an exciting time for Maintel as we progress our business transformation plan, pivoting the Group from a generalist to a highly skilled specialist operating across three high-growth technology segments,” said Davies.

“We are pleased to report significantly improved profitability and underlying organic growth in 2024, delivered through continued transformation progress and execution of our strategy.”

The MSP reported strong demand for cloud communications, particularly around customer experience, data connectivity and security.

Cloud recurring revenues grew by 7.9% to £17.3m, with higher value contact centre services helping fuel that increase. Data connectivity and security recurring revenues improved by 8.1% to £19.9m, supported by ongoing demand from customers for SD-WAN.

Maintel benefitted from operational savings that had come through from a restructure implemented in 2023. The year also saw the company cut the ribbon on some fresh security and connectivity services along with a cyber incident response option.

Last year also saw Maintel undergo a rebrand to emphasise its shift from a generalist MSP to a specialist operator that was focusing on its key areas. As well as aligning behind specific technology areas, the channel player has a range of verticals it is also specialising in, including financial services, retail, public healthcare, local government, higher education, social housing and utilities.

Davies said the MSP continued to operate in a challenging market, but the transition to a specialist meant it was confident that it had the ability to continue building momentum through fiscal 2025.

“While, like many, Maintel faces widely publicised macroeconomic headwinds in the coming year, we continue to show resilience in a difficult market due to the mission critical nature of the communications services we provide, alongside our high levels of customer loyalty and contracted recurring revenue,” he said.

“The board remains confident that it can build on the encouraging progress made across all aspects of the business during 2024 and meet market expectations for 2025, but is again expecting the performance to be weighted towards the second half of the year. The journey from a generalist MSP to a highly skilled specialist continues to well-position Maintel for the future.”