Softcat's Brown to step down as MD

Successor Richard Wyn Griffith will take up the mantle from 1 August

Softcat stalwart Colin Brown will step down from his role as managing director at the end of July.

His successor will be Richard Wyn Griffith, currently director of solutions, services and marketing at the VAR giant, who will take on the role on 1 August.

Brown (pictured) has been managing director of the VAR giant since 2013 and his career has also included stints at Microsoft and Computacenter. He will remain with the firm until "at least" November to assist in the transition.

He told CRN that his decision to leave the role was not based on one particular thing, rather that he wants to move into new areas.

"I'm coming up to eight fantastic years at Softcat, and 30-odd years in the IT industry altogether and just had a yearning to do a few different things in other areas," he explained.

"The company is in excellent shape, as our recent results demonstrated, with Graeme [Watt, CEO] having seamlessly taken over from Martin. We have a strong succession plan and so it's a great time for me personally to bow out and start a new phase."

Griffith has been with Softcat for 18 years and has held a number of sales roles in the organisation, including opening and developing its London office in 2010.

The process to find his replacement was "thorough and intense" but Wyn Griffith was ultimately chosen for his years of experience at the channel giant, according to Brown.

"We always strongly suspected that we had the ideal person for the job right under our noses although we didn't want to rule other options out," he said.

"But we kept coming back to Rich - he has Softcat in his DNA; he's so intelligent, dedicated and hungry to learn more. I couldn't be more pleased with the selection we've made and I will work hard alongside him to make the transition successful."

The outgoing MD has an idea of what new areas and roles he wants to take up when he departs Softcat and said he will relish having more free time for hobbies.

"I have a few different things in mind for the future - advisory roles, non-exec, potentially some coaching, as well as not-for-profit activity," he elaborated.

"Alongside that, some more free time and flexibility to pursue non-work activities. I don't think I'll have a problem filling my diary!"

CEO Watt added that the transition between Brown and Wyn Griffith has been in place since the former told the firm of his decision to leave.

"Colin has given and achieved so much in his time at Softcat. His decision to step down has not been an overnight one, and we have been planning this transition for some time since Colin initially signalled his intention," stated Watt.

"While we will be very sad to see Colin leave, Richard has gained the skills and expertise across many areas of our business in the past 18 years and he is the ideal person to take on this role. I would like to thank Colin for all his work and congratulate Richard on his new role."