GCI MD John Whitty has moved to Solar Communications as CEO and will leverage his 30 years industry experience to develop the company's portfolio and technical expertise and drive transformational growth. Whitty led GCI during its transformation from a traditional comms provider to become a provider of cloud, hosted voice and connectivity managed services.
At Solar Communications Whitty is charged with replicating GCI's transformation by driving operational effectiveness and developing the company's market proposition.
He said: "The Solar board has provided a clear mandate of obtaining growth and service excellence. Given its significant, existing client base and dedication to service, Solar now has an excellent opportunity to become the service provider of choice for all client communications and ICT requirements."
Mark Colquhoun, founder and majority shareholder of Solar Communications, will be a director on the board and focus on the strategic growth through acquisitions, sourcing new business opportunities and key partnerships.
Colquhoun said: "John has a proven ability to drive transformational growth, with the kind of operational leadership experience that we need to realise Solar's ambitious plans."
Ben Marnham, Chairman of Solar Communications, added: "John's experience of growing businesses through organic and inorganic means, combined with his technical heritage, further strengthens our ability to execute on our strategic plan of building an exceptional managed services provider."
John Whitty began his career as an engineer in the British Army and has held various senior technical posts since then, including CTO at Pipex during an acquisitive and organic growth period prior to its disposal to TalkTalk and private equity acquirers. Whitty has an MSc in Data Communications.