Computacenter chair to step down after five years

Ryan, who joined the company in February 2018 before taking on the chair role in May 2019, will not seek re-election as a director at the company's AGM in May.

"It has been my privilege to chair the board of Computacenter for the past five years. I have nothing but admiration for the outstanding people, values and culture which have been the key ingredients in Computacenter's enduring success," Ryan said.

Computacenter said Ryan will be replaced by Pauline Campbell, currently non-executive director and chair of the audit committee. Campbell, a former PwC partner who served on the governance board of the consultancy's UK arm, is also a non-executive director of Micro Focus International.

The news comes two days after Computacenter announced another record year of revenues and adjusted profits with gross invoiced income topping the £10bn mark, but said that trading conditions at the start of this year are likely to be challenging.

The company said it expects to make "further progress" in 2024, though growth will be weighted to the second half, "reflecting a significantly more challenging comparison in the first half" – causing shares to fall sharply on Wednesday.

The stock was down a further 0.5% at 2,682p by 0903 GMT, taking the weekly decline to 7.5%.