Business software and services firm Advanced has appointed Simon Walsh as CEO.
He succeeds Gordon Wilson, who has assumed the role of chairman of the company’s board.
Walsh joins Advanced after a search to find a successor by Wilson and the board, which includes its long-term investors Vista Equity Partners and BC Partners.
Prior to joining Advanced, Walsh was CEO of NTT Americas, a global technology and business solutions provider, and before that held CEO and COO positions for leading technology brands such as Atos, Virtustream and Dell Technologies Global Cloud Business.
“I am confident that Simon will further accelerate Advanced’s opportunity for growth. He has a successful track record of scaling technology businesses which will be invaluable to Advanced as we continue to expand our solution offerings and market traction. He is passionate about Advanced’s mission and our people and importantly how these can really make a difference to our customers,” said Wilson.
Wilson joined Advanced in 2015 when Vista Equity Partners acquired the business. He went on to lead a significant business transformation focused on relocating, reorganising, recruiting and rebranding.
Over that time, the company successfully grew organically and inorganically to become one of the largest providers of business cloud software in the UK. In 2019 Vista Equity Partners re-invested in Advanced and BC Partners joined as an equal investment partner.
“It is an honour to succeed Gordon as CEO of Advanced. The Advanced story is a truly great depiction of an innovative British software company with great ambition for the future,” said Walsh.
“I am excited and inspired by the talented individuals I will have the opportunity to work with and whose vision is to be the difference to their customers, providing quality products and services with a customer experience others can only aspire to.”
Philipp Schwalber, partner at BC Partners, added: “Simon has deep expertise in scaling technology businesses and experience in driving technological transformation.
“We look forward to working with him and our continued partnership with Gordon, as we support Advanced’s mission of helping customers through innovative cloud software.”