Celerity adds to board as it mulls over further M&A activity

Managed services player Celerity has continued to bolster its board with experienced players that can advise the firm as mulls over making merger and acquisition (M&A) moves.

The firm has appropriated David Stokes as an adviser to the board as it continues to assess expansion options in the IBM ecosystem.

Stokes has the background needed to make those types of decisions, with a spell as general manager for IBM’s Partner Ecosystem in EMEA. His brief is to work with senior management to identify M&A opportunities in both the UK and Europe.

His appointment on the board will also help Celerity as it continues to bolster its position as an expert in IBM’s Watsonx AI and data platform.

Craig Aston, CEO at Celerity, said that the company had been attracted by the experience that Stokes could bring to bear on the board’s strategy: “David is the perfect addition to our business as I, along with the rest of the board, look to capitalise on the scale of opportunity for Celerity right now.

“We’ve experienced several years of strong growth and made acquisitions which have boosted our capabilities and capacity. David’s experience will help to position us for the next steps in our growth strategy,” he said.

In response, Stokes said Celerity has established a strong business and built a capable board to help guide strategy: “The business has cultivated a culture with the perfect conditions to scale to the next level. As businesses prioritise operational resilience and embed AI into their operations, Celerity is the ideal partner for enterprise clients looking for AI-enabled IT and cyber managed services to help them achieve this.”

Celerity has made a few acquisitions in the past couple of years to bolster the business, so it is no stranger to using M&A as a route to expansion. Last year, the firm picked up data protection and security player Silverstring, which came a year after the business had made a move for Chilli IT.

Celerity was backed by private equity firm BGF, which invested £15m in 2021. Speaking late last year, Aston said that the business had made “strong progress” since that investment had been struck.

When the deal for Silverstring was sealed last July, Aston shared some insight into the motivation for the deal, which expanded its cyber security capabilities, saying: “Our customers look to us to realise their data’s potential and protect them in an ever-changing environment. We’re looking forward to bringing additional expertise and technology so we can continue to provide genuinely market-leading expertise and underpin our growth strategy.”

The channel player has brought on personnel with the expertise and insights to help with expansion, appointing Stephen Leonard back in December as adviser to its board, with a view to picking his brains as it aims to bolster its position in the IBM Power marketplace in the US.

Just as with Stokes, Leonard came with an impressive CV, which included spells as CEO of IBM UK, general manager of IBM Americas and IBM Power Solutions globally, and senior vice-president of alliances and partnerships at Kyndryl.