With over 18 years of experience in the technology sales and business operations arena, Alastair is Business Transformation Director at Softcat plc, a leading provider of IT infrastructure solutions and a FTSE 250 listed company.

He is responsible for developing and executing data, digital, and sustainability strategies that unlock more opportunities, optimize customer experience, and strive for a net zero value chain and a circular economy.

Alicia is Sales Director at Terra Computer Ltd part of the Wortmann AG group. She started as a Sales executive at Micro P, now Exertis, 24 years ago and has previously held senior roles in Distribution and Manufacturers including Tech Data and Acer.

Amanda Sleight is a veteran IT professional with over 30 years of experience. She has held leadership roles at Microsoft, SAP, and AWS, focusing on partner and sales strategies across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Currently, as the General Manager for the UK Public Sector at Microsoft, Amanda is dedicated to leveraging technology and AI to enhance citizen services and support government innovation

Bruce is an experienced IT channel leader with over 27 years channel experience. Currently leading channel efforts at Cequence Security, he spent the last five years building vendor-side programs & Channel GTM across EMEA following a successful career in value-added distribution. A long-time channel advocate, mentor, and CRN awards judge of 12 years, Bruce is passionate about strategic channel development and the value of the partner ecosystem.

Carl has worked in the IT and Market Research industry for over 20 years. Carl has worked in distribution, reseller, vendor and market research businesses. Carl has been a judge for CRN Channel Awards for over 12 years.

Craig Cheshire is a highly respected IT sales professional with over 15 years of experience in distribution. Throughout his career, he has excelled in key management roles, forging strong relationships with major enterprise partners and corporate customers. Craig is passionate about building high-performing teams, focusing on individual development, and recognising and enhancing the strengths of his colleagues. Craig is dedicated to leveraging technology to drive business transformation and innovation and evangelising that message to the channel.

Gina founded her first agency MCC International in her early 20s and grew it to be one of the UK’s largest regional consultancies before moving on to set up a successful PR division at WLM.Digital where she was co-owner and Communications Director for 7 years. Now back into consultancy, she’s working with a great team of freelancers and global partner agencies, offering a wider range of services to clients and drawing on the knowledge she’s built up over the past 30 years. Gina spends a lot of time mentoring and training and her hands on, tell it how it is approach to managing clients’ expectations has never changed. Journalists know what to expect from her and she’s built up some great contacts during her career. Humour and an abhorrence of pretentiousness have always stood her in good stead and she’s currently enjoying her third time round the working wheel.

Following a 20+ year career with blue chip enterprise businesses in retail, recruitment and technology, Hayley founded Distology, specialists in identifying, representing, distributing and implementing the latest disruptive technologies across the UK&I, Benelux and Germany.

Hayley has carefully nurtured a unique company culture that encourages vibrancy and ambition and as a result, Distology has won various accolades, including being named in the E2E Tech 100 track 2024, in association with The Independent, as one of the 100 business tech leaders, CRN’s Security Distributor of the Year 2023, Distributor of the Year (Sub £250m) 2022 and Cloud Distributor of the Year in 2020. What’s more, Hayley was personally awarded the CRN Editor’s Choice Award for Industry Achievement for 2022 and was also named Role Model of the Year and Woman of the Year at the CRN Women in Channel Awards in 2021.

A leading voice of authority within the industry, Hayley sits on the CRN judging panel for their prestigious Channel Awards and is head judge for EY Entrepreneur of the Year. She was awarded Northern Power Women Outstanding Entrepreneur for 2024, Channel Futures’ recognised her as one of the Top 20 EMEA Channel Leaders for 2023 and she features on the CRN A list for channel.

Education is very important to Hayley. She is regularly involved with the EY Foundation, an independent charity supporting young people from low-income backgrounds and, in 2024, she helped form Tech Channel Ambassadors (TCA). TCA aim to assist in addressing the strategic failure over decades, to attract and retain sufficient talent in the IT channel. They plan to do this by educating kids in schools, colleges and universities on the industry and the skill sets needed.

Ian is co-founder of Tech Channel Ambassadors a Community Interest Company (CIC) with a goal of recruiting volunteer ambassadors to visit schools, to inform students of the existence of the channel and the career opportunities available. With a focus on schools, and regions, of multiple deprivations, and on groups under-represented in the channel. Ian is an advisor on the AAT digital advisory panel, and Trustee of STEM Generation Charity.

Prior to that Ian was the founder of the international Wick Hill Group and Director of Nuvias Group (acquired by Infinigate).

Ian is a highly respected leader in the cybersecurity and IT Channel space, boasting over 20 years of industry experience, 15 of which have been focused on cybersecurity. His passion extends beyond technology; it lies in empowering individuals and businesses.

A decade ago, Ian established a multi-award-winning cyber services provider with the vision to redefine industry standards. His relentless drive and strategic foresight culminated in a successful acquisition, transforming the business into a market-leading Security Operations Centre (SOC).

Ian’s expertise encompasses Strategy, Sales Leadership, Planning, and Business Management, but what truly distinguishes him is his leadership style, which is grounded in collaboration, mentorship, and an unwavering commitment to the success of those he supports. He doesn’t merely provide solutions; he fosters relationships, guiding Channel Partners and MSSPs to unlock growth and resilience in an increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape.

As a consultant, Ian serves as a catalyst for change. His ability to distil complex challenges into clear, actionable strategies empowers businesses to take bold steps forward. With an infectious passion for his speciality and a natural talent for bringing out the best in people, Ian is not only a trusted advisor but also an inspiring force in the industry, making him a natural choice to judge and celebrate excellence in the Channel.

John is a seasoned technology executive with over 20 years of experience in building and growing businesses. He has a proven track record of success in the private equity, technology, and manufacturing sectors.

In his previous role, John was the CEO of a private equity-backed UK technology company. He led the company through a period of rapid growth, increasing sales by 200% in three years. Prior to that, John was the Vice President of Sales for a $1 billion American technology company in Europe. He was responsible for leading a team of 100 sales professionals and generating over $500 million in annual revenue.

John is also a regular member of the CRN Awards judging team. He is always impressed by the innovation evident in many of the shortlisted companies.

Today, John is a coach and mentor to senior leadership teams who want to improve the commercial performance of their businesses. He is passionate about helping businesses achieve their goals and helping people reach their full potential.

Jon Atherton is an accomplished sales leader with a strong reputation in the technology channel. With over three decades of experience, he has played a pivotal role in driving commercial success for leading technology businesses. His passion for the channel, coupled with his deep knowledge of technology products, has been instrumental in Ci Distribution’s ongoing growth and success.

As Sales & Marketing Director at Ci Distribution, Jon has helped shape the company into one of the largest Client Rugged and Gaming distributors—not just in the UK but across Europe. His strategic leadership, industry insight, and ability to cultivate strong relationships with key customers and suppliers have been central to this expansion. Before his tenure at Ci Distribution, Jon was a key figure at Exertis and Entatech, where his hard work and vision helped establish it as one of the UK’s fastest-growing technology distributors.

Beyond his commercial achievements, Jon is a well-respected industry figure, serving as a judge for both CRN and PCR Awards and being recognised as a UK Top 100 CRN Executive for over a decade. His contributions to the technology sector have earned him accolades such as the PCR Individual Award, the Network Group Chairman’s Award, and the Synaxon Personality of the Year.

His previous roles as Director of the Professional Computer Association (PCA) and Games Aid further reflect his dedication to supporting the wider good within the industry.

Jon remains actively engaged in industry events and LinkedIn, where he continues to shape the conversation around technology and distribution.

Outside of work, Jon is a devoted supporter of West Bromwich Albion and an avid golfer, embracing both sports with the same passion and energy he brings to his professional life.

Founder & CEO at Channel Edge, a premium channel engagement partner, in 2019 following years of extensive, award-winning success in the IT channel.

Additionally, joined Rejoose as CCO in 2023 to bring ground-breaking carbon emissions data and reporting to the global IT channel.

Lives in Hampshire with his fiancée, Sarah, their daughter, Daisy, and Bruce… the dog! Older kids Paige, Ty and Jake, fitness, golf, rugby, music and travel keep him motivated.

Mukesh Gupta co-founded e92plus in 1989, and continues to lead the organisation as Chief Executive. e92plus is a cybersecurity specialist, and Mukesh has played a pivotal role in driving the launch of new products and technologies via e92plus to the UK channel over the past 35 years, most noticeably accelerating start-up vendors and growing the partner community and revenues for established brands. e92plus have established themselves as one of the most respected and innovative value-added distributors in the channel while remaining one of the last independent VADs, introducing new services and initiatives to help drive their customers’ business and provide extensive sales, marketing and technical support. e92plus have enjoyed significant growth of over 500% in the past 9 years with record turnover figures, with the company winning multiple channel, vendor and partner awards. Mukesh has a BSc Honours in Mathematics, Statistics and Economics.

Neil Sawyer is responsible for leading market strategy and managing the multibillion-dollar P&L for HP’s Northwest Europe Market, spanning commercial and consumer channel and customer segments. Neil has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry, across corporate, public infrastructure, and consumer electronics.

He is a member of the non-governmental organisation Tech UK. Prior to his role as Managing Director of HP Northwest Europe, Neil served as Vice President and Managing Director for HP UK&I. Before that he led numerous operational, marketing, and strategy roles in his career spanning consumer electronics, commercial technology and telecoms sectors. He initially joined HP in 2002 as part of the graduate program and built his career path in the IT and electronics sector.

Prior to recently returning to HP, Neil has also worked for Lenovo, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone. Neil is known for his focus on both business growth and his commitment to talent development whilst nurturing a diverse and inclusive culture.

In addition to his role at HP he is a member of the non-governmental organisation Tech UK, which represents the broader topical issues and opportunities for the technology sector.

He shares findings and opinions with the UK Government and the wider technology stakeholder groups in the UK. Neil holds a degree in Business Studies from the University of the West of England. He lives in London with his wife and three children.

I am deeply passionate about the transformative power of technology in reshaping business operations and enhancing individual experiences. Focused on delivering measurable results and optimizing performance, I consistently exceed the expectations of clients, partners, and employers. Entrusted with building long-lasting relationships with key clients and partners, I act as a trusted advisor, using my deep understanding of their business goals and challenges to guide them in achieving strategic objectives through IBM's innovative Hybrid Cloud and AI solutions.

My approach is grounded in three core values: unwavering integrity, a commitment to kindness and inclusivity in all my interactions.

Simon Meredith has been writing about IT and business for more than 30 years. He worked on the launch of PC Dealer in 1986 and later helped establish CRN as the leading channel business title in the UK. Simon lives in Shrewsbury, has three grown-up children and is a keen runner.

Tony is an IT operations guru. As an ex-IT manager with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, his extensive vendor briefing agenda makes him one of the most well-informed analysts in the industry, particularly on the diversity of solutions and approaches available to tackle key operational requirements. If you are a vendor talking about a new offering, be very careful about describing it to Tony as ‘unique’, because if it isn’t, he’ll probably know.

To keep everything balanced and grounded, Tony is intimately involved in Freeform Dynamics’ Community Research Programme, through which he stays in close touch with how needs are evolving within the IT and business community around IT service delivery. This includes all aspects of systems infrastructure and management, from desktop, through servers, storage and network, to mainframe, with particular attention paid to alternative delivery models – cloud computing, managed services, IT financing, etc.

From an advisory perspective, Tony’s comprehensive knowledge of the solution and best practice landscape makes him ideal for those who want help in understanding their options rather than having a canned set of recommendations thrust at them. His focus on core principles and his forthright but open-minded views on technology also make Tony one of the most sought-after speakers in the industry for keynotes, roundtables, webinars, and so on.

Tony has a strong IT practitioner background, having held IT management positions at companies such as BP and BT, and has also worked on the vendor side of the equation at Amdahl. He became an industry analyst in 2000, has been with Freeform Dynamics since 2007, and is currently based in Germany, but also spends significant time in London and other locations around the world.