Falanx Group Ltd (LON:FLX) Chief Executive Officer Stuart Bladen caught up with DirectorsTalk to discuss his new appointment as CEO, their latest trading update, strategy and priorities and the key message for investors
Q1: Now Stuart, you’ve just been appointed as new CEO of Falanx Group, can you tell us a little bit more about your background?
A1: Yes, sure. I’m delighted to be joining Falanx Group, cyber and intelligence are some of the most interesting and exciting markets, they’re really growing strongly at the moment. My background, I’ve previously worked across consulting cyber and outsourcing at the likes of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Unisys, Hitachi, EDS and most recently at Hewlett-Packard but perhaps most relevant is that I also ran Vistorm, which was a specialist UK cyber security company. Other things more recently that I’ve done include running the go-live of the Belgium tax system, I’ve done turnaround in the Middle East and I also led go-live of the UK’s universal credit pilot system. So I’ve led some very large teams and businesses up to around about 18,000 people and over $3 billion in annual turnover, with Falanx I am very definitely returning to my favourite market.
Q2: Falanx have also issued a trading update today, how are things going there?
A2: We put out a trading statement this morning at 7am and we’ve definitely got some reasons to be cheerful. Our revenue is 54% up on this time last year, our acquisition of ASC has gone well and it’s a great tribute to hard work by Jay Abbott and our cyber team, Tim Williams and the intelligence team, for their part, have delivered a 17% increase in growth on this time last year and that’s quite strong organic growth. Thirdly you’ll recall that Falanx took a loan from Darwin Capital Limited to help acquire ASC, well we’ve been able to pay that off early and then finally we’ve announced today that we’ve appointed a new joint broker, Whitman Howard Limited, to help improve our market representation. So overall that’s a really good trading update and we’re positioned well as we start the second half of the year.
Q3: So Stuart, why are you joining Falanx Group? What’s the opportunity there?
A3: I’m joining Falanx because I see a gap in the market for a strong pure-play cyber intelligence company. Many older cyber start-ups have actually been acquired over the last few years whereas newer ones have tended to focus on software, automation or encryption but I’ve found that clients often want service oriented firms that focus exclusively on intelligence and cyber, who are real experts, who are independent and who provide intelligence-based analysis and response to a range of geopolitical and cyber threats. I think it’s important to remember that this is an area of real scarcity that’s moving really quickly. I was at a recent RSA conference and they were predicting a shortfall of more than a million professionals in these markets and bluntly there just aren’t enough people around and enough people in training so the only way to meet this demand is going to be through highly-leveraged, well-engineered managed service and that means that Falanx fits the bill perfectly.
Q4: As the new CEO will you be changing strategy and what will be your key priorities?
A4: Well, as I’ve just said, I feel Falanx is in the right market with the right focus at the right time so the strategy is right, the acquisition of ASC has given us a good range of offerings. So what am I here to do? I’m here to accelerate growth and the delivery with that strategy andI think my key challenges are firstly strengthening our sales efforts and then building out our portfolio, scaling off delivery teams, hiring and training new people, making some acquisitions later and making sure that we build the reputation with major businesses and governments as their preferred cyber security and intelligence provider. I’d like to just note that wherever possible I focus on long-term client relationships over many years, and even decades, and whilst it’s true that in most businesses understanding the client is the best way to deliver both value and profits, it’s particularly true in the cyber market where trust is absolutely essential.
Q5: So what do you think the key message is for investors of Falanx Group?
A5: I think it’s very simple, Falanx have had a good first half and we’re well positioned, we’ve grown 54% year on year and we focussed now on accelerating our strategy and building sales and delivery capability. I think the third point is that we now have a strong leadership team in place, this year Mike Reid, our Chairman, was appointed in February and from today I am the new CEO with a strong cyber background.
