The combined entity will boast £1bn in gross invoiced income and over 1,000 employees, creating a major force in managed services and digital transformation
Trustmarque Group and Ultima Business Solutions have signed a definitive agreement to merge, forming what both companies describe as a “powerhouse for managed services and digital innovation” across the UK and beyond. The deal, expected to complete in early November, will create one of the country’s largest IT services providers, with a combined Gross Invoiced Income (GII) approaching £1 billion and more than 1,000 employees.
Both firms bring deep roots in the UK channel. York-based Trustmarque, founded in 1987, is a long-standing Microsoft and Cisco Gold partner with a strong foothold in the public sector. Reading-headquartered Ultima, founded in 1990, is known for its corporate managed services, automation capabilities, and AI-driven offerings through its Ultima Labs unit. Together, the merged organisation will serve more than 3,000 customers across seven UK and international locations.
The new group will be led by Simon Williams (right), currently CEO of Trustmarque, with Jamie Beaumont (left), Ultima’s CFO, taking on the same role in the merged business. The merger continues to be supported by Trustmarque’s private equity owner One Equity Partners and Ultima’s backer Apse Capital, both of which have endorsed the integration as part of a long-term growth strategy.
‘A jigsaw that fits perfectly’
Speaking exclusively to IT Europa, Williams said the merger is about “complementary strengths coming together” rather than consolidation for cost savings. “There’s a huge number of benefits,” he explained. “For our teams, it means greater opportunities and broader technical diversity. For clients, it creates a complete service provider. It’s like a jigsaw — Trustmarque and Ultima each have brilliant pieces that the other doesn’t.”
He pointed to several areas of synergy: Trustmarque’s Cisco, IBM and Hitachi Vantara practices align neatly with Ultima’s strength in HPE, Citrix and AWS through its Just After Midnight cloud business. From an industry standpoint, Trustmarque’s portfolio is roughly two-thirds public sector, while Ultima’s is around 90% corporate. The merged company will therefore achieve what Williams called a “true yin and yang balance” between public and private sectors.
The same dynamic applies to service models. Trustmarque’s business has historically leaned toward professional services and project delivery, whereas Ultima operates as a managed services specialist. “Together we’re in balance — across technology, industries and service types,” Williams said. “It’s a merger of equals designed to build something better, bigger and stronger for our clients and our people.”
Strategic alignment over consolidation
Williams stressed that the merger was not driven by immediate cost-cutting but by strategic alignment. Both companies have been preparing for integration for several months, allowing “natural attrition” to handle most role overlap ahead of completion. “It’s about doing it properly,” he said. “Yes, we’ll right-size where needed, but the key is growth — not synergies for their own sake.”
Brand integration will also be gradual. Both Trustmarque and Ultima will continue to operate under their existing names for now, with a phased rebrand to follow once customer and staff transitions are complete. Williams confirmed that the leadership structure will draw from both companies’ senior teams, with some roles refined to reflect the merged entity’s broader remit. For instance, the group will now include a Chief Services Officer to oversee managed services and a Chief Delivery Officer responsible for professional services.
Balancing geography and expertise
The merged company will retain Trustmarque’s York headquarters and Ultima’s Reading base, reflecting the firms’ northern and southern strengths. It will also maintain existing sites — including Ultima’s warehouse operations and Trustmarque’s network operations centre — to preserve local capability.
“Everywhere we look, there’s complementarity,” Williams said. “They have a warehouse; we don’t. We have a NOC and dedicated cybersecurity team; they don’t. Together, we fill in each other’s gaps.”
Trustmarque’s 2023 acquisition of software asset management specialist Livingstone and Ultima’s earlier purchase of cloud services provider Just After Midnight further extend the group’s international reach and recurring revenue streams.
A platform for growth, not the endgame
While the merger creates one of the UK’s largest independent IT service providers, Williams indicated that further acquisitions are unlikely in the short term. “The worst thing you can do is acquire when you’re mid-merger,” he said. “We need to build the platform first, bed this down, and make sure the culture, processes and teams are fully integrated before looking outward again.”
He also praised the cultural fit between the two organisations: “The energy, the enthusiasm, the tenure — it all feels right. You’ve got two sets of people coming together to create one team.”
For customers and partners, the outcome will be a single organisation offering a deeper, more integrated portfolio — spanning cloud, security, networking, automation and data services — underpinned by relationships with leading vendors including Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, HPE, Hitachi Vantara, Palo Alto and Citrix. “This merger gives us the scale, the expertise and the reach to anticipate our clients’ needs and unlock new opportunities,” Williams concluded. “We’re combining the best of both worlds to deliver value and innovation at every level.”
Trustmarque was acquired by One Equity Partners in 2022 and subsequently bought software asset management specialist Livingstone. Ultima, majority-owned by Apse Capital since 2019, has grown its automation and cloud business through its acquisition of Just After Midnight in 2021. The combined company’s leadership team will be announced following internal briefings, with completion of the merger expected in early November 2025.
