Troubled reseller gets channel heavyweight as CEO

Industry stalwart arrives with epic transformation task in his sights after firm's accounting scandal

Chris Jagusz has been appointed chief executive of Redcentric and given the task of turning around the reseller's fortunes.

In 2016, the discovery of "misstated accounting balances" in Redcentric's balance sheet prompted the firm to begin a forensic review and hit the firm's bottom line.

Jagusz, who has senior experience at Azzurri Communications, SSE Telecoms, Daisy Group and BT going back to 1988, will look to get the firm back to its previous industry form.

Martin Courtney, principal analyst at TechMarketView, said Redcentric will be hoping Jagusz will breathe new impetus and integrity into the troubled company after the FY17 accounting scandal delivered an operating loss of £3m.

"We wish Jagusz luck - Redcentric's challenge is engineering a return to profit while minimising any reputational damage from ongoing Financial Conduct Authority and Financial Reporting Council investigations," he said.

Courtney noted that Redcentric was keen to highlight its new leader's "track record of delivering growth and business transformation".

"We wonder which of those two is the more immediate priority, but interim results due at the end of November should reveal if, despite all the distractions, Redcentric has managed to sustain the strong rates of revenue growth it enjoyed in previous years," he added.

Chris Cole, Redcentric's chairman, said: "We are delighted to be able to announce the appointment of Chris as chief executive. He has an outstanding track record both in telecoms and as a business leader. The board are confident he is the right person to take Redcentric forward."

Redcentric also issued a trading update, stating that its performance for the six months to 30 September has been "in line with management expectations". It said good progress has been made with reducing the net debt position to £33.3m, which is ahead of management's expectations. This apparently is due to "strong operating cashflows reflecting improved trade debtor collections and working capital management".