Consult Red, an employee-owned tech R&D innovator, has appointed experienced technology consulting leader Raghu Venkatesam as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A leader in software and hardware innovation of Media and IoT platforms for enterprise customers, Consult Red's success is rooted in deep engineering and R&D.
Raghu will assume day-to-day leadership of the company and join the Board of Directors. With a proven track record of customer centricity and scaling technology-led services business in Asia, Europe and the USA, Raghu joins Consult Red from IBM Consulting. He held several roles as a Senior Partner over 12 years, including transforming their Cloud Application Innovation business in the UK & Ireland and leading global client engagements across financial services, public sector, media & telco, energy & utilities, automotive and retail.
Raghu's broad sector experience will help Consult Red to leverage its track record in cutting-edge, connected devices and systems to meet soaring demand for smart, internet-of-things (IoT) products.
Raghu Venkatesam, new CEO, said:
"I am excited to join the Consult Red team as we accelerate our clients' innovation and delivery of differentiated Media and IoT solutions in their markets. Our deep experience in R&D, embedded hardware design, software development and systems integration, along with our competencies in Edge Computing, AI and Security, enable our clients to scale their IoT offerings quickly and securely.
I look forward to further capitalising on our heritage in the media industry. At the same time, we continue setting strong foundations in other industries such as Industrial & Manufacturing, Healthcare, Consumer Electronics and Energy & Utilities. Our Employee Ownership model is one of the key ingredients in our ‘secret sauce’ which differentiates us in the industry."
Karen Bach, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said:
"I am delighted Raghu is joining the team. Consult Red has successfully built an enviable track record helping clients deliver digital transformation, manage risk and get to market faster. Andy has led the team to our strong position today, and I thank him personally for everything he has achieved.
We are very excited about building on this great success, and Raghu's impressive international tech knowledge and understanding will help us support more customers. He will lead our deeply experienced software engineers to continue delivering world-leading and innovative IoT solutions for companies. It is the start of an exciting new chapter."
Raghu replaces Andrew Stewart who is retiring from the company. Andrew will remain on the Board of Consult Red and continue supporting the business.
Andrew Stewart, retiring Consult Red CEO, said:
"I'm so proud of what had been achieved during my time at the helm. Our global growth is beyond what we hoped for, but our transition to an employee-owned organisation is the greatest achievement. A key to our success has been that we have engineers and innovation at the heart of our culture and service offer. Employee ownership means that those values and the foundations we've put in place will be preserved as the company continues its journey".
Accelerating growth
Raghu's appointment comes on the back of strong, sustained growth for Consult Red; over the last 12 months, revenue growth has doubled, and the number of people in the team has increased by 25%.
In 2022 Consult Red is looking to grow its team by upto a third.
It seeks to leverage its track record in cutting-edge, connected devices and systems to help clients across all sectors develop and deliver smart, connected internet-of-things (IoT) products to market.
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Notes to editors:
About Consult Red
Consult Red is an employee-owned company that works with many of the world's leading media and connectivity brands. It employs over 200 people in its offices in the UK, US and Poland.
Consult Red applies its long track record in connected and embedded expertise to meet market demand for IoT smart devices, expanding the business outside of media and delivering more services to different sectors. Connected devices and systems developed by Consult Red are currently in more than 30 million homes worldwide.
Employee ownership
In a recent milestone, ownership of the company was transferred to the employees, protecting the company's values and putting it in pole position to attract and retain the industry's best talent and create win-win relationships with its customers.
Recent leadership appointments:
In 2020, Karen Bach, an experienced Chairman and non-executive director in the technology and media industry, joined as Consult Red Chairman.
In 2021 Consult Red made two more key appointments,
- Paul Stevenson as CFO and
- Steve Donachie as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).
