53. Acora

Revenue: £78.8m

Acora continued its sharp upward trajectory in 2023, posting £78.8m in revenues for the 14-month period to 31 December – an 80 per cent pro-rata increase on the previous year. Much of this growth stems from full-year contributions from its 2022 acquisitions, and the business remains bullish about further M&A in the coming year.

Over three-quarters of Acora’s revenues are now recurring, with its core services – spanning end user compute, cloud & infrastructure, cybersecurity, data and a growing AI proposition – developed squarely for the upper mid-market. The firm’s “Led by Experience” brand positioning reflects its people-first ethos, with major investment in employee development and customer experience.

2023 saw Acora step up its cybersecurity credentials through the acquisition of InfoSec Partners, a move that extended its reach in Fortinet’s ecosystem and added multiple specialisations including zero trust and OT security. Its 24x7 SOC is now fully integrated with its core managed IT teams, while the company also ramped up investment in Google Cloud-based security automation and AI-driven threat detection.

International operations were expanded too, with service delivery now running a follow-the-sun model via offices in South Africa and Kuala Lumpur. On the data front, Acora is helping customers tackle challenges like eCommerce abandonment and churn prediction through Microsoft Cloud-based Data Lakehouse architectures and machine learning.

With an 11 per cent EBITDA margin and nearly £62m in contracted and repeating revenue, Acora enters 2024 in strong financial health and with a clear focus: doubling down on innovation, expanding its security capabilities, and building out its AI and data services for mid-market clients.