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Adarma appoints former Cisco VP as CEO

Adarma, an independent British cyber security business, has appointed John Maynard (pictured) as its new CEO. He will take up the role at the end of November.

Maynard joins Adarma with years of experience in the global cyber security industry. He was previously vice president of the global security specialists group at Cisco, and prior to that he was based in San Francisco and had a dual-role at DXC Technology as chief operating officer and vice president of product management for cybersecurity.

Adarma has said it made the appointment as it seeks to continue its growth trajectory and track record in assisting large blue-chip organisations with threat management and security operations. The company will be expanding its service offerings and driving international growth across the UK, US and Europe.

Maynard commented, “I truly believe in Adarma’s potential for growth and look forward to working with David and the wider leadership team to take the company to its next phase of development.

“The vision and talent of the team at Adarma has already led to an extensive list of successes in recent years, including consistently increasing revenues by providing proactive security threat management for some of the UK’s most well-known brands. With this expertise and Adarma’s unwavering commitment to its customers, its people and its offerings, the business has a solid foundation for overseas growth and expansion in the cyber security market.”

Current CEO David Calder will take on the role of chief product officer, where he will work with Maynard to drive Adarma’s overall strategy and services roadmap. Calder will also be responsible for identifying new opportunities to grow service lines and further expand Adarma’s customer base, as well as taking on responsibility for a number of the company’s existing FTSE 350 customer relationships.

During his seven years as CEO, Calder has overseen a successful period for the business. Since 2013, the Edinburgh-headquartered business has increased turnover from £1.5m to a record £41m, with headcount rising from 12 to more than 250. In May 2019, David also led a management buyout of the business, backed by mid-market private equity house Livingbridge.

Calder added, “John is a leading light in the security industry and I have no doubt that his experience in driving rapid international growth will significantly benefit Adarma’s future. With the global pandemic accelerating conversations about the need for comprehensive and proactive security strategies, there is a huge opportunity to grow our customer base and deliver a wider range of services to help businesses of all sizes increase their cyber resilience.

“In my new role, I’m looking forward to working with John to build on the strength of our existing customer relationships, and working closely with them as we expand our service range to provide innovative end-to-end security solutions.”