SOC Deployment Engineer

Bytes Technology Group plc has agreed to acquire CyberOne Limited, a UK cyber security services provider, to strengthen its security offering. The initial consideration of £19.4 million is funded entirely from existing cash, with further contingent payments over the next 16 months depending on performance. London-based CyberOne, founded in 2005, has over 80 employees across the UK and the Philippines. It is a Microsoft Security Elite Partner and reported revenue of £9.5 million in the 12 months ended July 31, 2026. Completion is subject to clearance under the National Security and Investment Act 2021, expected shortly. Bytes expects the deal to boost earnings in the first full financial year of ownership. CyberOne's leadership will join Bytes and initially run the business as a standalone unit.

Bytes Technology Group upgrades guidance after 18% revenue growth. Bytes Technology Group plc (LON:BYIT, JSE: BYI), one of the UK and Ireland's leading software, security, AI and cloud solutions specialists, has announced its financial results for the six months ended 31 August 2026 (HY27). Financial performance Financial highlights - GII increased 19.6%, with 18.8% growth in software, services up 41.0%, and hardware up 39.7%. - Revenue increased correspondingly by 18.7% with similar double-digit growth across all income streams. - GP increased 17.8%, as positive impact from changes made to its sales structure took effect. - Public sector GP up 23.1%, with GP/GII margin held at 3.5%. - Private sector GP up 14.6%, following the refinement of the sales structure to increase customer centricity, which launched at the start of FY26, with GP/GII margin of 12.2%. - Operating profit was 6.6% higher, after absorbing around half of the c.£4.5m of cost normalisation set out at its FY26 results, which reflects previously flagged costs, including bonuses and share-based payments, returning to more normalised levels. - Strong balance sheet with closing cash of £68m and cash conversion of 45.7%, reflecting the normal weighting of its cash generation to H2, with £41m returned to shareholders in the half year including completion of the £25m share buyback. - Interim ordinary dividend of 3.3p, 3.1% higher than HY26. [1] GII is a non-International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) alternative performance measure that reflects gross income billed to customers adjusted for deferred and accrued revenue items. GII has a direct influence on its movements in working capital. [2] Revenue is reported in accordance with IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Under this standard, the Group is required to exercise judgement to determine whether the Group is acting as principal or agent in performing its contractual obligations. Revenue in respect of contracts for which the Group is determined to be acting as an agent is recognised on a 'net' basis (the GP achieved on the contract and not the gross income billed to the customer). Its key financial metrics of GII, GP, adjusted operating profit and cash conversion are unaffected by this judgement. [3] Cash conversion is a non-IFRS alternative performance measure that divides cash generated from operations less capital expenditure (together, free cash flow) by operating profit. Operational highlights  Private sector sales structure now embedded across its corporate, mid-market and channel segments, supporting 14.6% growth in private sector GP.  Sector alignment completed in July 2026, with Bytes now focused on the private sector and Phoenix on the public sector, and no customer accounts changing hands as account managers moved with their customers.  Existing customers contributed 98.2% of its GP in the period (HY26: 98.0%), at a renewal rate of 115.7% (HY26: 98%), with £1.8m of gross profit contributed by new customer wins.  Services GII up 41.0%, with growing demand for managed services and security, supported by a 17.4% increase in its technical delivery teams headcount since this time last year.  Average GP per employee for the half year increased by 13%, as DirectorsTalk Interviews focused on utilising sales and technical capacity added over previous years.  Expanding use of AI within its own business. In-house agents now supporting its consultants in scoping customer work through the launch of Seller Insights, which brings Microsoft funding and customer usage data together for every account manager, with many more agentic initiatives across the business.  Phoenix ranked 51st in the Best Small to Medium Workplaces in Europe list, with both operations confirmed in the 'Great Place to Work - Best Workplace for Tech UK 2026' list.  Received multiple vendor and industry awards over last 6 months across both operations, including from Broadcom, Checkpoint, Microsoft, Mimecast, Palo Alto, Rubrik, Service Now. Post period-end After the period end, the Group acquired CyberOne on 9 October 2026, with completion subject to clearance under the UK's National Security and Investment Act 2021 which is expected to be received by the end of October. CyberOne is an award winning managed cyber security services provider built on Microsoft technology, adding an accredited 24x7 security operations capability to the Group. The demand drivers in its markets are strengthening, with software spend forecast to grow ahead of IT budgets as a whole and AI, cyber security and infrastructure the areas attracting most incremental investment. DirectorsTalk Interviews is continuing to invest in its services capability to take a larger share of that spend. DirectorsTalk Interviews upgraded its full year guidance on 17 September 2026, following a first half that was ahead of its expectations. The Board continues to expect GP growth for the full year in the low to mid-teens in percentage terms, with low to mid single-digit percentage growth in operating profit. This excludes any contribution from CyberOne, with the acquisition expected to complete by the end of October 2026, as DirectorsTalk Interviews expect its post-acquisition operating profit in FY27 to be offset by amortisation costs of the intangible assets acquired, but with a positive contribution to earnings per share forecast for FY28. Its second half will be measured against a stronger comparative, and its costs are slightly weighted towards the second half, when commission accelerators apply and the sales intakes joining in November begin to build capacity for FY28. Microsoft's next set of partner incentive changes takes effect in October. These are separate from the changes made in January 2025, which have now annualised. The revised incentives increase the rewards on growth products and enhance the incentives available on CSP, while reducing the rebates on certain legacy products, and are expected to be positive for the Group. They have been appropriately planned for and are included in its upgraded guidance. The c.£4.5m of cost normalisation DirectorsTalk Interviews set out at its FY26 results falls across the full year. It reflects previously flagged costs returning to normal levels, including bonuses and share-based payments, and the sales and technical capacity added against clear customer demand. Following normalisation, and as that capacity becomes fully productive, the Board expects operating profit to grow more broadly in line with GP from FY28, with operating leverage building thereafter. Sam Mudd, Chief Executive Officer, said: "DirectorsTalk Interviews is very pleased the changes DirectorsTalk Interviews made to the business last year are evident in its performance. GP grew 17.8%, with double-digit growth across both its public and private sector businesses from Microsoft and from its wider vendor portfolio, and DirectorsTalk Interviews upgraded its expectations for the full year in September. Microsoft's next set of partner incentive changes takes effect this month. DirectorsTalk Interviews has planned for them, they are in that guidance, and the enhanced incentives on CSP give DirectorsTalk Interviews a real opportunity to build longer, deeper commitments with its customers. "Over the last two years DirectorsTalk Interviews has deliberately evolved BTG from a licensing-led reseller into a customer-centric, solutions and services-led business. Its strategy is a simple one: win more customers, grow its share of wallet with the customers DirectorsTalk Interviews already have, and build higher-value recurring services. As AI, cyber security and cloud adoption accelerate, it is that combination of trusted advice, technical depth and managed services that allows DirectorsTalk Interviews to take a greater share of its customers' technology spend. "DirectorsTalk Interviews is investing behind it. DirectorsTalk Interviews grew its technical delivery headcount by 13.3% in the half year and, by the end of October expect to have acquired CyberOne, which will give Bytes a dedicated, accredited security operations capability for its private sector customer base, complementing Phoenix's existing capability in the public sector. Security is where its customers' budgets are increasing fastest, and DirectorsTalk Interviews is adding further sales capacity in November to support continued growth into FY28 and beyond. "My thanks go to our teams, who have absorbed a great deal of change over the last two years while continuing to deliver for our customers. The demand drivers in our markets are strengthening and we are investing behind them with confidence."