When incovo CEO Chris Thomas took charge of the company aged just 18 it was the start of a remarkable journey founded on human resilience and enterprise but overshadowed by grief.
Thomas inherited the incovo business from his father, Richard Thomas (who was also Chairman of Boxing Scotland), following his tragic death in March 2016. At the time, Thomas junior was working in a shoe shop. “It was a challenge taking over the business with no experience but my father trained me well through life experiences and gave me the tools and confidence to become a strong leader,” he stated. “This in turn allowed me to grow incovo over the last eight years, despite not having a traditional education or career path.”
Glasgow headquartered incovo was founded in 2002 by Richard Thomas as a provider of print and telecom solutions in central Scotland. “I have evolved and grown the business in response to the ever changing technological landscape,” added Thomas. “Demand for IT services in particular has risen dramatically as a result of increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity threats. It was a natural decision to develop incovo into an IT company and move with the times.”
The acquisition of Edinburgh-based RGB Solutions in 2022 was a key milestone that cemented incovo’s position as one of the primary IT services providers in Scotland. The deal boosted turnover by an additional £700k, added five team members and 97 clients. Incovo currently has 10 staff members and a turnover of £1.5 million and its customer profile ranges from small businesses to large scale enterprises. Thomas is targeting a sales increase of £1.8 million in the next year and is eyeing £4 million within three years. He is also on the lookout to acquire another business.
It was a challenge taking over the business with no experience but my father trained me well through life experiences and gave me the tools and confidence to become a strong leader
“Our strategic focus is to continue to evolve into a fully fledged MSP, offering services such as IT Director as a Service to integrate into large businesses and support them with strategy and direction,” commented Thomas. “We are also continuing to reinvest our profits into training and improvements, as well as growth activity, with the ultimate aim of not being the biggest, but the best.
“We don’t offer break-fix, instead we offer a full MSP model which isn’t based around time, but around all the services required under one roof. We charge a monthly rate that encapsulates it all – IT support, software, networking, hardware, cloud, telephony, print, strategy and SOC. The growth is coming from a mix of these and we’re in a strong position to acquire companies offering a similar service.”
Thomas is also under no illusions about how quickly he needs to move to an MSP model. “We never stagnate,” he commented. “Our driving force is Technical IT Director Iain Bissett who is at the forefront of the IT industry after 35 years working in senior roles for major organisations such as RBS and Tesco Bank modernising their systems. The value he brings is second to none. Our products have moved towards a premium IT offering and the portfolio is stacked well, covering the full range of services any business would need. IT services are crucial to all businesses nowadays and customers have a growing appetite for them. We’re also evolving our internal services and automation to better serve clients.”
Key opportunity
Thomas says incovo’s biggest opportunity resides in showcasing its MSP approach including a Security Operational Centre (SOC) function with all aspects of the full ICT product suite covered in-house. “Our target market is businesses based in the Scottish central belt that use IT related software, hardware and cloud tools,” commented Thomas. “Our key partners are Sophos, Microsoft, Gamma, Konica Minolta and HP.”
According to Thomas, many businesses have faced a make or break scenario and he believes that the role of an MSP is to enable organisations to overcome barriers and realise their potential – whatever their size. “With the aftershock of Covid, inflation and the cost of living, businesses have two options – thrive or survive,” he stated. “We are able to streamline, simplify, save on costs and implement a high level of service and security to ensure businesses are in the best IT position to thrive.”