FluidOne seals third 2023 acquisition with CNC deal

The buy expands FluidOne’s Business IT Centre of Excellence to £37m in revenue

FluidOne today announces the acquisition of Brighton-based MSP Computer and Network Consultants Limited (CNC).

The cloud and networking aggregator says the deal is part of a wider strategic move to expand FluidOne's channel offering in 2024, positioning the company well to cater better to its regional customers.

This is FluidOne's third major acquisition of 2023, following the completion of deals with Highlander Computing Solutions in February, and projectfive in April.

The trio of deals builds on FluidOne's strategy to invest in regional IT MSPs to create a branch network for localised services for its SME customers.

This latest acquisition expands FluidOne's Business IT Centre of Excellence to £37m revenue, with 1,100 customers, 164 employees and five branch offices led from Highlander's Sheffield headquarters.

"When reviewing the business, I was impressed with the excellent service they deliver and the strength of relationships that the team build with their clients," said Russell Horton, CEO of FluidOne.

"This was reinforced by great customer feedback in our survey and an excellent NPS of 60. They are a great fit to our strategy, and I look forward to working with Graham Lind, Gary Jowett and the team to grow the Brighton business."

CNC will operate as a separate branch with a dedicated management team, continuing to be led by co-founder Graham Lind as managing director of the Brighton Branch and supported by co-founder Gary Jowett as operations and marketing director.

The branch will report into Steve Brown, as MD of the FluidOne Business while Horton will assume the role of Chairman for CNC.

Lind adds: "Gary and I are very proud of the CNC business and our great team of staff. We have experienced strong growth over the past two years and customer feedback of the services they require going forward from their IT support partner has given us the ambition to accelerate our growth and deliver quality services to even more local businesses.

"Having met with Russell, Steve and the wider FluidOne team we see a great opportunity to build CNC as the trusted local IT provider whilst benefiting from expert overlay in connectivity, mobile, Unified Communications and Cyber from the wider FluidOne group."