As the fourth addition to FluidOne’s branch network, projectfive creates a £30m revenue business unit bringing local IT Managed services to nearly 1000 Business IT customers

London – 26^th April 2023 - FluidOne, the market-leading provider of Connected Cloud solutions, has today announced the acquisition of award-winning Surrey based IT managed service provider, projectfive. Based in Camberley, projectfive provides outsourced IT services to small and medium size local businesses across Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire.

This acquisition follows that of Highlander Computing Solutions in January 2023, and builds on FluidOne’s strategy to invest in regional IT MSPs to create a branch network for expertly delivered localised services for its SME customers. The investment in projectfive has created a £30m revenue Business IT Centre of Excellence (CoE) for FluidOne, with 930 customers, 134 employees and already with 4 branch offices led from Highlander’s Sheffield headquarters.

Projectfive will continue to benefit from the support and innovation of the founder, Steve Coburn, as he becomes consultant to the board. Rob Reed-Roberts, Commercial Director and Brad Cordell, Technical Director, will continue leading the projectfive teams, reporting to Steve Brown as Managing Director of the FluidOne Business IT CoE, ensuring that customers benefit from local account management and engineering, with best practise and a wider services portfolio supported by centralised leadership.

Commenting on the acquisition Russell Horton, FluidOne CEO, said:

“I am pleased to announce the acquisition of projectfive, that builds on our strategy to create a branch network for expertly delivered IT managed services to Business customers. 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. This was reinforced by great customer feedback in our survey and a world class NPS of 80. They are a great fit to our strategy, and I look forward to working with Steve Coburn and the team to grow the Camberley business.”

Steve Coburn, projectfive Founder and Managing Director:

“This is an exciting chapter in the projectfive journey; when we first started having discussions with Russell, it was clear that our companies shared a common culture and values and a commitment to delivering great service. The FluidOne portfolio will broaden the service offering to our existing customers and the acquisition offers fantastic career opportunities to the projectfive team.”

Steve Brown, Highlander Computing Solutions Ltd. Managing Director, added:

“A fantastic addition to the group.  Rob, Brad and the projectfive team will bring great expertise to the core of the Business IT CoE and as a group we are well placed to help them grow their base and further strengthen the proposition they can offer to their customers.  We’re excited to be working with another quality and values driven business.”  

Post-acquisition, FluidOne’s CEO, Russell Horton, is to become Chairman of projectfive, with FluidOne Directors Brendan Lynch, Chris Rogers and Roy Hastings also becoming board directors.