TWO Hampshire IT firms have joined forces.

Peach Technologies (Peach) and Taylor Made Computer Solutions (TMCS), two of the most established and respected providers of IT and communications services, today announced that they have joined forces, with TMCS becoming a Peach Technologies company.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The enhanced group will have sales of about £20m, around 200 employees and a customer base of more than 1000 organisations.

The group will combine market-leading connectivity, mobile, telephony services and existing IT services from Peach with the extensive IT services, security, backup and disaster recovery solutions from TMCS enabling the group to offer an expanded range of products and services to customers.

Darren Scott-Healey, chief executive of Whiteley-based Peach said: “We’re thrilled to bring together the exceptional skills and first-class services of two market leaders. Both companies are hugely complementary and enhance our ability to provide a one stop shop solution for IT, telephony and communications services. We look forward to using our combined scale to do even more to help our customers grow, succeed and increase profitability.”

Nigel Taylor, founder and managing director at TMCS said: “It is amazing to reflect on how far we have come since Aly and I started Taylor Made 24 years ago from our family home near Fareham. Our highly skilled and IT passionate people, combined with our tailored approach to providing the correct products and services have been the foundations to creating a successful and highly respected business. By combining forces with Peach we bring together a unique combination of talent that will provide an even bigger benefit for our customers and partners.”

The combined directors and management team will lead the enhanced group with TMCS founder, Nigel Taylor remaining as a consultant to the board of directors.

Ian Brown, chairman of Peach said “The combination of Peach and TMCS marks a transformational step in the evolution of the Peach group to fulfil our aspiration of becoming one of the leading IT and communications providers for small and medium size enterprises throughout the UK. After joining the group as chairman in January 2017 we quickly identified the massive opportunity generated by the combination of these two businesses and it is very pleasing to make it a reality. We expect to continue to develop the business through strong organic growth and making further complimentary acquisitions in the future.”