Williams stepping into Trustmarque CEO role

Just a few weeks after signalling it was supporting a mid-market growth plan, Trustmarque has revealed it will start next month under the leadership of a fresh CEO.

Earlier in February, the channel player moved for cloud asset player Livingstone Software, describing it as part of a plan to increase the scope of the business in the UK.

From the start of March, former NTT Data UK&I boss and well-known channel figure Simon Williams will become CEO of Trustmarque.

As well as NTT Data, Williams has a CV that includes time at large consultancy firms Capgemini and Detica.

“We are incredibly pleased to have Simon join and lead Trustmarque into our next phase of growth,” said Torgrim Takle, chair of Trustmarque. “Simon has a long history of growing technology businesses serving both government and commercial clients, and brings with him excellent industry relationships, including with our key market partners.”

Williams comes into a business that has just made it first major move of picking up Livingstone, under the ownership of One Equity Partners (OEP), which backed Trustmarque in January 2022 after Capita decided to sell off the business six years after picking it up.

“I am eager to join a fine group of people and see Trustmarque together with Livingstone as a fantastic platform to make a difference in the IT services marketplace through its strategic focus on optimisation and cloud services, bringing the management of the whole software lifecycle to its customers,” said Williams.

“I am excited to be part of the Trustmarque team and see the recent acquisition of Livingstone as strengthening our position with clients and with partners, such as Microsoft and Cisco, as we work toward our ambition of doubling the size of our business,” he added.

He will be replacing Ben Richardson, who is remaining with the business and moving into the role of chief corporate development officer, where he will be responsible for helping the business with M&A activity, identifying targets and then executing on those acquisitions.

“During his tenure as CEO, Ben presided over a remarkable transformation of Trustmarque. He developed the company’s service capabilities, carved it out from Capita, and then built it further by leading the recent strategic acquisition of Livingstone,” said Takle. “We thank Ben for positioning Trustmarque so well for the next phase of its growth, and we look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Trustmarque described the acquisition of Livingstone as a “first step” in an ambitious growth strategy to drive its position in the UK mid-market space.

“This acquisition will enable us to leverage the data-driven knowledge of Livingstone to benefit Trustmarque’s customers. Together, we are ready to collaborate to deliver superior transparency and control over our customers’ IT investments,” said Richardson.