One way or another, Mike Norris has spent most of his life bucking the odds.
In the precarious world of FTSE CEOs – where the average tenure in charge is around six years – Norris has clocked up an incredible 32 years in the hotseat at technology giant Computacenter.
He’s now been in charge for five-and-a-half years longer than Sir Alex Ferguson managed Manchester United.
And just like the legendary football manager, 64-year-old Norris is showing no sign of losing his Midas touch as he gets older.
Yesterday Computacenter reported an 87 per cent increase in profit before tax (PBT) to £152.4m for the first half of 2026.
Following its record first half, Computacenter now expects adjusted PBT for the full year to be ‘significantly ahead of current market expectations’ and ‘not less than £380m’.
But who is Mike Norris and what’s his story?
Norris doesn’t do many interviews and his team politely declined to answer my questions in compiling this profile.
The story of the FTSE’s longest-serving CEO began in 1961 in Essex, when Norris was born in Chelmsford.
He was raised in Southend-on-Sea, attending Eastwood High School from 1973-1980 and eventually serving as head boy.
He showed an entrepreneurial talent from an early age, organising the school’s Christmas dance at Zhivago’s nightclub in Southend.
It was a risky venture for someone so young but turned out to be such a success that he managed to buy his first Mini with his share of the profits.
Dyslexia
At school, Norris had a natural talent for maths but found English much more challenging on account of his dyslexia.
In order to get to university, he needed to pass his English O-level, which he determinedly achieved at his fifth attempt.
He attended the University of East Anglia between 1980-1983, studying maths and computing.
Computers were in their relative infancy and, a few days after graduating, Norris started his career selling computers for Norwich-based Synergy Computers.
He quickly excelled but recognised there was more potential to shine in London, which is where his 42-year association with Computacenter began.
Computacenter was founded by entrepreneurs Philip Hulme and Peter Ogden in 1981 and, under them, Norris was able to shine.
Ogden remained as chairman of the company until 1998, when he became a non-executive director. Prior to founding Computacenter, he was managing director of Morgan Stanley and Co.
Ogden received a knighthood for services to education in 2005 and in 2024 he and his family stepped in to save and transform the fortunes of his boyhood football club Rochdale AFC.
Hulme, who first interviewed the young Norris in 1984, worked for Computacenter on a full-time basis until stepping down as executive chairman in 2001.
He was previously a vice president and director of the Boston Consulting Group. Hulme was knighted in 2016 in recognition of his services to charity and technology.
Norris joined Computacenter in August 1984 – and never left.
He quickly rose through the ranks and was appointed CEO in his early 30s in 1994.
Computacenter became the largest privately-owned IT company in the UK ahead of its successful flotation on the London Stock Exchange in May 1998.
Norris was only 36 at the time of the IPO and went on to oversee Computacenter’s global expansion, with the company achieving £100m in profit for the first time in 2021.
In June 2026, the company achieved another landmark by securing a place in the FTSE 100 for the first time.
It followed a surge in its share price and stronger-than-expected trading updates, which propelled the Hatfield-based IT services giant into the UK’s blue-chip benchmark.
One person who has known Norris for much of the journey is Richard Holway MBE – who describes himself on LinkedIn as ‘possibly UK’s oldest IT analyst’.
Writing on the eve of Computacenter’s admission to the FTSE 100 he said: “Mike Norris is a good friend. Indeed, he is the longest-serving CEO of any FTSE 250 company. So, tonight I am sure he will be celebrating becoming a FTSE 100 CEO with, as he has just told me, ‘a good bottle of wine’!
“I’ve been a #CCC shareholder for more than a decade during which time my shares are up 6x. Indeed, they are one of the best performing shares in the Holway Portfolio 2026 with a 58 per cent gain YTD.
“I had great joy giving Mike Norris and #CCC their Holway Boring Award for 10 years of uninterrupted EPS growth.”
The Holway Boring Awards were handed out to honour listed technology companies achieving 10 or more consecutive years of uninterrupted earnings per share (EPS) growth.
Modest Norris responded to Holway’s good wishes on Computacenter’s FTSE 100 admission by saying he was a ‘little humbled’ by the response.
“We will do our best not just to stay in the FTSE 100 but to strive to take this company further and further,” he wrote.
“Financially, geographically and most of all in delivering value to our customers. Here’s to a few more years!’
‘People man and numbers man’
Holway, who is now 80, told BusinessCloud that Norris was a ‘people man and numbers man, which makes him unique’.
Norris’ longevity has inevitably led to comparisons with Sir Alex Ferguson, who managed Manchester United for more than 26 years before retiring in 2013 aged 71.
Today, Computacenter employs more than 21,000 people worldwide – and Norris’ remarkable 42-year association with the company shows no sign of ending.
Sir Alex eventually decided 26-and-a-half years at the top was enough. After 32 years in the Computacenter hotseat – and with record results still rolling in – Norris clearly hasn’t reached that point yet.