Falanx appoints new CEO, trades in line with expectations

Intelligence, security and cyber defence provider Falanx Group announced the appointment of Stuart Bladen as chief executive officer with immediate effect on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm also provided an update on its trading for the six months to 30 September.

On the appointment of Bladen, it said he has a deep understanding of the cyber security industry, in particular the arena of consulting and managed security services.

“As executive chairman of Vistorm, Stuart doubled the company's size to 400 staff and annual turnover of £120m,” the board said in a statement.

“Vistorm was a provider of consulting, managed security services and network solutions to companies needing a specialist security partner and is now HP Information Security UK, part of the Hewlett Packard group.

“Stuart's past track record also includes leadership roles at Hewlett Packard as vice president of UK Public Sector and for the Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa, where he managed a $2bn+ turnover operation.”

In addition, the board said he has held senior roles at EDS, Hitachi, Unisys and PwC where he led teams of up to 18,000 people with business units delivering revenue of more than $3bn.

As part of the arrangements, John Blamire was stepping down as CEO but would continue to serve on the board as an executive director, working alongside Bladen to play a “significant role” in developing new markets, strategic opportunities and assist in the further development of the company's core offering.

With regard to trading, Falanx said the six months to 30 September were in line with management expectations with revenue for the period of £1.22m - an increase of 54% compared to the same period last year

During the period, the company continued to focus on developing core cyber security skills to address “significant market opportunities”.

It also successfully integrated the recent acquisition of ASC.

“On behalf of the board and the company, I am delighted to welcome Stuart to Falanx,” said chairman Mike Read.

“Our strategy of focusing on cyber defence and intelligence continues and we are pleased that our recent acquisition of Advanced Security Consulting Limited is proving successful.

“As announced today, Falanx has traded strongly in the first half of the current year and we look forward with confidence.”