Administrators save all 140 jobs at legal services IT group following acquisition

Administrators have managed to save all 140 jobs at a Daresbury group that was hit by a cyber incident late last year.

Peter Dickens, Sarah O’Toole and Helen Wheeler-Jones of PwC were appointed as joint administrators of City Business Solutions UK Ltd, Converge-IT.Net Ltd, Sprout Technologies Ltd, together ‘the group’ based in Daresbury, which form the Managed Service Provider ‘MSP’ division of the Abingdon-based CTS Group.

On appointment, the joint administrators completed a sale of the business and assets of the group to Milton Keynes-based Bluecube Cyber Security Solutions Ltd, for an undisclosed sum. The sale includes the transfer of substantially all business and assets, including all 140 staff.

The group is a specialist provider of cloud and managed IT services to both legal firms and barristers’ chambers in the UK and Ireland.

A cyber incident in November 2023 caused difficulties in trading with access to data severely limited for some customers.

While the group was able to successfully restore operations in full by the end of December 2023, the disruption led to financial pressures, resulting in a sale process being conducted.

Today’s announcement has no impact on the trading business of Tiger Eye Consulting Ltd, which remains within the existing CTS Group. Sprout Technologies NZ Ltd was also not included in the deal.

Helen Wheeler-Jones, joint administrator and director at PwC, said: “Following a period of disruption, this deal represents the best outcome for the group and its clients across the legal sector.”

Rob Pritchard, restructuring director at PwC, said: “Having responded to recent complex challenges, this deal now ensures continuity of services for clients throughout the UK and Ireland while providing a platform for the group’s continued growth.”

James Hawker, CEO of Bluecube, an Ekco company, said: “The group has long standing and rich relationships with many organisations in the legal sector. We view the addition of these customers as a strategic opportunity to build the leading MSP practice for the legal sector in the UK and Ireland.

“We are confident that we can offer both the group’s people and their customers a smooth transition to Bluecube where we will provide them with market-leading IT services that allows their business to grow.”