One of the UK’s leading Microsoft Cloud and cyber security experts has been named Intercity’s new chief technology officer.
James Pearse, who has more than 20 years’ experience across high profile roles at Atech Cloud, Open Systems and Microsoft, has been brought in to shape the Birmingham firm’s future technology strategy as it moves towards £100m revenues by 2030.
He has strong ambitions to grow the company’s CTO office and innovation governance model, while changing the conversation from ‘devices, tickets and licences’ to how tech can boost productivity, resilience, and AI transformation.
His technical expertise and passion for people, customers and creating real value through technology will be crucial in bringing Intercity’s strong capabilities across Managed IT, Microsoft, Cyber and Networks together to deliver stronger business outcomes.
“Intercity are at a really exciting stage of the journey and at a time where the market is changing quickly,” said James, who has previously worked on large-scale cloud transformation programmes for the United Nations.
“Customers are trying to simplify their technology estates, strengthen security, modernise how people work, control cost and understand what AI really means for their business.
“This creates a huge opportunity for a partner like Intercity. What excites me is that we are not starting from scratch - we have all the ingredients to become much more than a supplier. My aim is that we become a strategic technology partner to customers who want practical advice, strong delivery and someone who can help them make better decisions.”
Intercity, which also has offices in Bedford, Bolton and Nuneaton, celebrated its fortieth birthday earlier this year.
It marked the big anniversary with the completion of a £1.8m investment in replacing its legacy platforms with an AI-powered ecosystem and the launch of a technical training and cyber awareness Academy to support its future expansion.
Following significant growth since 2023, the company has seen revenues more than double from £25m to £55m and is currently delivering communications, managed IT and the latest cyber security services to clients involved in the public sector, healthcare, manufacturing, property, retail and, increasingly, the world of sport.
In addition to organic increases in sales, Intercity has also embedded strategic acquisitions of Chandler Communications and Centrality - the latter seeing the company become a Microsoft First Managed Service Provider (MSP).
Being an MSP means acting as a trusted Microsoft partner, responsible for running, securing, and optimising an organisation’s Microsoft environment - from Azure and Microsoft 365 to security, compliance, and ongoing performance.
James said: “We can really make our Microsoft partnership capability a strategic differentiator in my opinion. Someone asked me what medium-term success would look like in this role and my answer was simple - to make Intercity a trusted partner that helps customers optimise, secure and scale through Microsoft, AI, Security and Managed Services.”
Charlie Blakemore, CEO of Intercity, said: “James is one of our sector’s leading experts, so this is a significant appointment for our business and highlights our determination to help our customers ‘do more’ through technology.
“His immediate focus will include strengthening our technology vision, accelerating innovation, supporting our managed services strategy and ensuring we continue to build on our strong relationship with Microsoft.”
