FluidOne has today announced the acquisition of Orca IT. The addition will help grow FluidOne’s presence in IT and cybersecurity managed services, as well as introducing a local presence in the northwest.
Orca IT was co-founded by Mark Tunstall, managing director, and Alex Pimperton, technical director. It is based in Lancashire and has more than 20 years of experience of working with professional services organisations.
The company specialises in delivering end-to-end managed IT services, support, hosted desktop, and cloud solutions.
Post-acquisition, Russell Horton, FluidOne’s CEO (pictured above, second from left), will become chairman of Orca IT, with Simon Ward and Chris Rogers, directors of FluidOne, also becoming board directors.
This is the first acquisition since FluidOne secured a committed acquisition facility with Pemberton in June 2024.
Russell Horton, CEO, FluidOne, said, “I couldn’t be more pleased that Mark, Alex and the team at Orca are joining FluidOne, building on our strategic, long-term growth strategy. Orca is a great business that matches the values and vision FluidOne has established and strives for.
“We’re delighted to bolster our IT Centre of Excellence with its expertise and to provide support for Orca’s team to scale their business and deliver wider FluidOne offerings to their customers.”
Mark Tunstall, finance and managing director (pictured above, second from right), Orca IT, added, “We are excited about the prospect of what this acquisition means for the staff and clients of Orca. With the backing of FluidOne, we will be able to extend our reach within professional services.
“By becoming a regional branch of FluidOne’s, we’ll be able to build on our strengths in IT managed services, drawing on support from the group and adding further cybersecurity services, as well as connectivity, mobile and unified communications.”
Orca is FluidOne’s ninth acquisition since the MBO led by Russell Horton in 2019, with revenues now exceeding £113 million and the group now employing 540 people across nine office locations.