Trustmarque and Ultima complete mega merger - What this means

The blockbuster union is projected to earn £1bn in gross invoiced income

Trustmarque Group and Ultima Business Solutions today declare the formal completion of their monumental merger.

With the transaction now over the line, the combined entity will begin integrating, guided by a unified leadership led by Simon Williams as the group’s CEO, and Jamie Beaumont as CFO (previously of Ultima).

York-HQ Trustmarque was founded in 1987 and boasts more than 550 employees.

Ultima Business Solutions, established in 1990 and based in Reading, brings over 450 heads.

The unified business now spans seven UK and global locations (York, Reading, London, Glasgow, Dubai, Singapore, and the US) with a headcount exceeding 1,000 staff.

The promised “new technology powerhouse” in the UK IT services market is targeting gross invoiced income growth to surpass the £1bn barrier.

Trustmarque’s UK revenue for its most recent full year was £498m. While Ultima delivered £73m.

“We’re already seeing new joint opportunities emerge from enabling multi-cloud optimisation to delivering next-gen AI-powered operations for clients across sectors,” said Beaumont.

“Our integration teams have laid the groundwork for a seamless transition, and we are excited to move forward as one team with one mission: to help our clients thrive in a fast-changing digital world.”

Here’s what the completion of the merger means for customers, vendors, and distributors.

For customers

The merged company will serve more than 3,000 customers across both the private and public sectors, including healthcare, as well as central and regional government.

“Together, we have enough credibility, enough weight to be strong in the financial services market, the legal market, the energy, and the utilities markets,” Williams told CRN last week.

Following the news of the completion, Williams stated that by bringing together Ultima’s automation and managed services with Trustmarque’s technical heritage and professional services, the duo are positioned to help customers cut through complexity to unlock tangible value today and in the future.

“IT leaders are telling us their estates have become more complex, and that creates real barriers to maximising innovation and growth. Responding to this demand requires partners remain attuned to these shifts and adapt with the right expertise,” Williams said.

For vendors and distributors

The unified business will count Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Hitachi Vantara, HP, Palo Alto, and Citrix as its top strategic vendors.

“Microsoft is really excited about the merger between Ultima and Trustmarque,” said Nick Hedderman, Microsoft’s EMEA channel lead.

“Both organisations span from large enterprises down to some of the most strategic SMB organisations in the UK market and together will become an incredible powerhouse, helping our shared customers to be successful in the era of AI.”

For distributors the new scale and changes will present fresh opportunities, Williams told CRN.

“The technology landscape is all about ecosystem, and the people who succeed are the people who play effectively and play well within it.

“I want to personally be involved in the engagement with the distributors and talk about how we can further improve our relationships.

“We've got a pretty good spread across them at the moment, and is that a good thing? Is that not a good thing? Should we be diversified? Should we put all our eggs in one basket? I think there are opportunities to look at what the different benefits are.”