North appoints former BT exec as chair of board

Danuta Gray joins IoT partner to help support ‘ambitious growth plans’ in 2022

IoT provider North has appointed former BT exec Danuta Gray as chair of its board, as the firm makes "ambitious growth plans" for 2022.

Gray has more than 25 years of experience in the telecoms sector, having held senior roles at BT as well as being CEO of Telefonica O2 Ireland and executive director of Telefonica Europe.

She is currently the chair of Direct Line Group, a member of the board for Burberry and has held non-executive positions as chair of St Modwen and a member of the board of the UK Ministry of Defence.

The appointment comes as North gears up for "ambitious growth plans" in 2022, according to CEO Glen Williams.

"Danuta's experience scaling businesses and knowledge within the sector positions her as the perfect chair to lead the North board as we expand into new areas and develop new innovative solutions to support more organisations and businesses to work in smarter, safer and more sustainable ways," he said.

"It's an incredible time to join North as we look to accelerate growth across areas such as private 5G and IoT," added Gray.

It has been a busy year for North. The firm changed private equity hands at the end of July, taking on investment from Livingbridge.

Williams told CRN at the time that the new investor would afford North with a larger war chest to pursue more M&A opportunities.

The networking and IoT specialist also acquired Data Techniques, bringing its headcount to 360 staff and its annual turnover to £63m.

The North brand was formed in 2020 when five businesses - Boston Networks, Pinacl, Pinacl GDA, 2020 Vision Systems and PEL Services - came together under its previous private equity backer Aliter Capital.