Mentor
Martin Hess
Overview
Martin Hess is an experienced technology leader and chair with more than 40 years in the IT industry, spanning global corporates, high-growth services businesses and private equity–backed platforms. He began his career in sales at ICL and IBM, where he became one of the early leaders in the then-emerging outsourcing market, helping clients rethink how technology and services could support their business models. After director roles in smaller software and services companies, he joined HP, where he spent a decade on the UK Board and led major parts of the business through significant growth and change.
At HP, Martin headed the UK sales organisation of more than 700 people for five years, building strong customer relationships and a performance-driven sales culture. He went on to lead and grow the Services organisation across the UK, Middle East and Africa into a US$2.2bn revenue business, combining delivery excellence with large-scale transformation for enterprise and public-sector clients. This mix of sales, operations and P&L leadership has given him a deep understanding of how to align technology, people and commercial outcomes in complex, multi-country environments.
In 2016 Martin became Chair of OCSL, a leading UK IT services business, before moving into the CEO role when the company was acquired by CANCOM Group in 2018. He played a central role in CANCOM’s UK expansion, including the acquisition of Novosco in 2019, and in 2021 became Managing Director of CANCOM UK & Ireland, bringing OCSL and Novosco together under a single senior leadership team. He led the sale of CANCOM UK & Ireland to Telefónica Tech in July 2021 and then oversaw the acquisition of Incremental Group in March 2022, further strengthening the group’s cloud and data/AI capabilities.
Since stepping down from full-time executive roles in early 2023, Martin has focused on a portfolio career. He qualified as an ICF accredited executive coach. He is currently Chair of an early-stage SaaS business and of a private equity–backed IT services company, and has previously chaired a pioneering Salesforce-native payroll solutions provider.
Martin brings deep cross-sector expertise in:
• Global IT services, outsourcing & cloud – four decades across ICL, IBM, HP and specialist providers, including early leadership in outsourcing and managed services.
• Sales, operations & large P&L leadership – running a 700-strong UK sales organisation and a US$2.2bn services business across the UK, Middle East and Africa.
• M&A, integration & value creation – leading acquisitions and integrations (OCSL, Novosco, Incremental) and the sale of CANCOM UK & Ireland to Telefónica Tech.
• Private equity–backed growth & SaaS scale-ups – chairing early-stage and PE-backed technology businesses through scaling, professionalisation and international expansion.
He is known for his pragmatic, customer-focused approach, his ability to scale and integrate businesses, and his commitment to developing leadership teams that can deliver sustained growth.
PDF Profile
Download PDFMajor Career Roles
Arc (UK) Systems Ltd
Chair
Clientshare
Chair
Telefónica Tech UK & Ireland Ltd
CEO
Organised Computer Systems Ltd (OCSL)
Exec Chair
Hewlett-Packard Ltd
Vice President, Enterprise Sales
Other Career Highlights
SQW Group Ltd
Non-Executive Director
Hewlett-Packard Ltd
Vice President - Enterprise Services
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