Daisy CEO Neil Muller quits

margarite-daisies-for-sale-at-fete-norfolk-england-b0xgj3Daisy CEO Neil Muller has left the firm after three and a half years in charge.

In an email sent to all staff Muller said that following “deliberation” with Daisy founder and chairman Matt Riley he had decided “to pursue a new direction”.

Under his watch Daisy has made a string of acquisitions as it pushed beyond its roots in comms and into cloud and IT services.

Daisy was formally put up for sale with a price tag of more than £1 billion earlier this year with private equity buyers circling the company. Muller said he hoped to double the size of the company with the backing of the right buyer, through organic growth and more acquisitions to create a clear alternative to BT in the market for enterprise telephony.

According to the FT  the sale process did not yield the expected outcome, with Riley — a significant shareholder who founded the business — moving instead to buy out the company. Muller appears to have departed as a result.

In the email, Muller said it had been an “honour to lead the significant transformation of Daisy over the last 3.5 years” adding that he is “extremely proud of what we have collectively achieved during this time”.

“More recently, our founder and chairman Matthew Riley and I have been discussing the next phase of the group’s evolution and, following much deliberation and conversations together, I have decided to take this opportunity to pursue a new direction”, he added.

“The support from you all, as well as our customers, partners and shareholders, has been incredible. So a heartfelt thank you for all your hard work and dedication. I would like to wish Matt and the entire Daisy family the very best of luck and every continued success, and I hope that our paths will cross in the future.”