Lawrence Jones appoints MD for security firm Secarma

Paul Harris rejoins Jones following spell as marketing director at UKFast earlier in his career

Lawrence Jones' security firm Secarma has appointed former UKFast marketing director Paul Harris as its new managing director.

Last year Jones (pictured, left) told CRN of plans to build a £100m security services business after his Secarma venture acquired ethical hacking specialist Pentest for a reported £10m.

After doubling Secarma's London office space following the acquisition, Jones has now appointed Harris (pictured, right) as the firm's managing director, five years after he ended a three-year stint at UKFast.

"I am incredibly proud to bring Paul back into the business at the highest level," Jones said. "The business has got huge potential and needs a strong leader which is exactly what Paul is.

"Paul understands our business and culture inside out so who better to inject that into Secarma and take it to the next level? He took a different opportunity [when he left UKFast] but I never lost sight of the fact that he was always a great leader and a great friend - plus he was learning new skills in some amazing businesses.

After leaving UKFast Harris went on to spend three years at Sage as marketing director of global accounts. He then co-founded HR software firm BrightHR.

Harris said: "Secarma is an innovative, disruptive player in the market.

"It's full of extremely talented people delivering a quality service to blue chip clients. Because of that talent and quality service it's grown organically through word of mouth and repeat business.

"I discussed the position with Lawrence and it quickly became clear that this was an opportunity I had to take. I've got so many memories of working for UKFast and coming back to this group of companies feels like coming home."