Phil Doye has made an industry comeback by acquiring SBL.
Doye’s acquisition vehicle, Glebe Holdings, has bought all of the firm after current CEO and majority shareholder Dennis Hobban approached him to lead “the next stage of its growth”.
For those who came in late, Doye built tech reseller Kelway over 25 years before selling it to US peer CDW in 2015. He resigned as a director of the firm in 2017.
He will take the role of CEO in SBL. Doye’s involvement will spell follow-up funding to enable both organic and acquisitive growth, according to a statement from the firm.
Doye tweeted that he didn’t expect to make a channel comeback.
“A little surprised to be back but SBL proved hard to resist!! Loved meeting the people today and I hope we can do great things together 🙂👊 @SBL_UK https://t.co/zDzqSxn82t,” he tweeted.
Public sector specialist SBL is an accredited MoD Security Specialist. It claims its DOBUS service has provided over 25 million patches and connected to 250,000-plus endpoints.
In its most year on record, to 31 August 2018, SBL recorded a net profit of £2.1 million on revenues that fell from £155 million to £139 million.
As part of the deal, Hoban and FD Bryn Roberts will exit the firm, and the senior management team of Paul Jenkins, Scott Cattaneo and Tracie Barrow will become directors.
In a statement, Doye praised SBL’s focus on cloud and security.
“With strong consultancy skills and a comprehensive suite of technical services, SBL is ideally positioned for growth. After I spent time with the management team and learned about the business, it was clear that SBL has a great set of solutions and services to assist customers in their next phase of IT transformation. I am delighted to have completed the deal and look forward to working with the team as we begin an exciting new chapter in SBL’s journey.”
