Aberdeenshire firm IT Hotdesk has changed hands and is now under new ownership.
Borehamwood-based Redsquid acquired it for an undisclosed sum.
The deal will see all 12 staff remain in their roles at the IT service and solutions advisor which has a turnover of £1.6 million.
IT Hotdesk founder Gordon Christie takes on a new role as head of Scotland.
Right time to sell
The 51-year-old said he believed it was the right time to sell after 15 years at the helm.
He said: “We weren’t really in the market to sell. We were happy with the business and the way it was going.
“But I had a back operation a year ago and after that I was out the business for about three months.
“It was then I was looking at succession planning and at the beginning of this year I did look at building our leadership team in a better structure.
“However, in May Redsquid approached us and what became apparent was they had similar values to IT Hotdesk so we accepted the offer.”
Impact of rising employer costs
Gordon also expressed his concerns about the impact of changes to National Insurance contributions by employers (NICs) calling them “crippling”.
He said: “The employers national insurance increase as a business owner with a small company just made us wonder do we trust the government to do the right thing.
“The percentage increase was one thing but it’s the lowering of the level as well to £5,000.
“It’s going to be crippling for a lot of small to medium sized businesses and at the end of the day it eats in to your profits.
“We just knew we’d done the right thing. It cemented our thoughts.”
Increase customer offering
It’s the first Scottish acquisition for Redsquid which was started by Sohin Raithatha and Vince Mignacca in 2006.
Sohin said: “We are so excited for this next growth journey as we move into Scotland.
“We have long had a presence in the north and look forward to being closer to our customers so we can continue providing value as their local managed IT service provider.”
Gordon added: “It will be business as usual for customers and staff.
“It just gives us access to more dedicated resource and better buying power being part of a larger group.
“We have access to 50 more staff at Redsquid to help us. Hopefully we can offer a lot more.”
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