Avaya UK boss joins VAR as CEO

Ioan MacRae to join Maintel this month following announcement that Eddie Buxton will depart

Avaya's UK managing director Ioan MacRae is joining comms VAR Maintel as CEO, following the departure of long-standing boss Eddie Buxton.

MacRae (pictured) has been at Avaya for almost six years and previously held roles at Westcon. He'll start his new job on 14 October.

He said: "I am delighted to be joining Maintel at this exciting time in the company's development.

"Having worked with Maintel for many years as a strategic business partner, I am thrilled to be joining such a talented team, and to have the privilege of leading the next stage of the company's journey."

Maintel, one of the largest Avaya partners in the UK, announced the departure of Buxton at the start of last month, following a 10-year spell at the VAR.

At the same time the firm announced that revenue had declined during its H1, but a £300,000 loss swung to a £1.5m profit before tax (year on year).

Maintel said that Buxton would remain with the business until a replacement was found.

The VAR's chairman John Booth said: "Ioan is the perfect candidate to lead the next phase of Maintel's development.

"He has significant experience in our sector and a track record of leading successful businesses through times of transition and high growth."

Martin Courtney of TechMarketView said that MacRae has inherited a business in good shape to grow.

"MacRae's task does not actually look that difficult, given the many positives in Maintel's first-half results," he said.

"Earlier investments in expanding Maintel's capabilities and restructuring the company around high-growth areas such as managed services and unified-communications-as-a-service are paying off after the acquisitions of Intrinsic Technology and Azzurri Communications. Revenue from subscription-paying cloud and software customers hit 20 per cent of the total in H119, up from 15 per cent in H118.

"If that sort of growth can be maintained in the second half, MacRae should not have too hard a time of things - though as ever (and more so in the current political climate) six months is a long time in business."