inTEC CEO Melissa Rambridge: ‘This is the mark of a new era’

Rambridge tells CRN the business is on an M&A break and focusing on how to become one combined entity following 14 acquisitions in eight years

inTEC has marked a new era for the business with a newly opened head office in Manchester as it now switches focus from rapid M&A to bringing those acquisitions together.

The MSP made a number of changes at the back end of 2024 which saw Melissa Rambridge step up to the CEO role.

She had served as COO for six months after the company she previously headed up, Sweethaven was bought by inTEC in July 2023.

Speaking with CRN, Rambridge gives an update on how inTEC is evolving.

“We now have around 200 heads. We are increasing in headcount. We’re a growing business and the office move is a mark of a new era,” she says.

“There’s been a restructure, a new C-suite. Not to mention we’ve done 14 acquisitions over eight years.

“So there’s been a huge amount of change and what we wanted was a move into a new, open plan office with a bit more energy to it, a bit more dynamic. That shows us starting to bring all those 14 businesses together.”

Rambridge reveals inTEC’s main ambition for 2025 is the culmination of those 14 acquisitions being integrated into one team and one group.

“Through acquisitions, we have an amazing mix of strengths and areas of expertise across the business, from IT support infrastructure, cybersecurity, AI, all the way through to comms,” she says.

“So, we can provide a really excellent end-to-end service for our customers, but we're still in that piece of integration and consolidation.

“When you're talking to me this time next year, what I'd like to be saying is we're working as one big team that can provide that end-to-end service for all our customers, and all our customers know about it, and we'll be a force to be reckoned with.

More M&A?

inTEC last flexed its M&A muscles in July 2023 with its acquisition of Sweethaven Computers Ltd.

Rambridge reveals whether the MSP has its sights set on more M&A.

“Mid to long-term M&A will absolutely be a big part of inTEC’s growth plans.

“But for this year the main focus is on consolidation and integration to make sure that we've got a really solid foundation for both organic and inorganic growth,” she says.

inTEC operates in two key markets - education and the SME.

Rambridge says another acquisition would need to be in these spaces.

“So another acquisition might look like another company who's prominent in the education space and has some unique education offerings.

“It might look like a business that can provide some real specialist expertise, perhaps within the areas of AI or cybersecurity within the SME space.

“It would need to complement our existing customer base and or fortify our skill sets.”

Scaling a smaller business

Speaking on her own priorities for this year, Rambridge says at the “absolute top” is retaining the personality of a smaller business.

“The personal touch and care of a smaller business, whilst combining the scale and layers of specialist expertise that you can get in a larger business.

“If you look at the acquisitions across the last eight years, the brilliant thing about each of those individual acquisitions for inTEC has been that they've been smaller turnover businesses that have grown through reputation and through that personal touch with customers.

“So, if we can retain that feeling for the customer, and by customer, I mean the external customer, also the internal customer, so the people.

“If they feel part of that family, feel that level of care that you get from a smaller business, but we scale it so you get the scale of capacity at a bigger business level, then I think we'll create a real USP in the market.

“And then all the other services and offerings that go around it, they need to feed into that.”