Mantel Group appoints entrepreneur Nick Ellsmore as cyber leader
Technology consultancy Mantel Group has hired Hivint co-founder Nick Ellsmore as its new head of cybersecurity, with former lead Adam Durbin moving into the chief technology officer role.
Ellsmore joins after previously serving as global head of strategy and consulting at Trustwave following its Hivint acquisition in 2018, while another cyber firm Ellsmore co-founded, Stratsec, earlier sold to BAE Systems.
The firm has made a slew of senior appointments in the months since combining its various brands under the Mantel umbrella at the end of last year, and has indicated that it intends to continue to pursue an aggressive growth strategy.
Ellsmore brings two and half decades of experience in building cybersecurity companies, along with leadership at major global firms: Singtel purchased Trustwave for over $800 million in 2015, while Ellsmore also served as Asia Pacific head of business development and strategic programs at BAE prior to establishing Hivint, which was picked up in turn for roughly $25 million.
“In a time where the focus from business leaders on security is at an all-time high and new technologies like generative AI are changing both the threat and defence landscape, requiring organisations to revolutionise the way they manage their security, there is no better person than Nick to lead Mantel Group’s security capability,” Durbin said.
Mantel is aiming to more than triple its cyber headcount under Ellsmore to 150-plus professionals within the next two years, with Durbin having driven the development of the practice since joining Mantel upon its acquisition of his co-founded CMD Solutions, where he has also served as CEO. He now moves into the CTO seat, with responsibility for the group’s suite of offerings spanning cloud, digital, data and security.
Speaking on Mantle’s extensive capabilities, Ellsmore said; “The market is shifting and to have the maximum impact in the cybersecurity space, you need to do more than just cybersecurity. This may sound counter-intuitive coming from a security professional, but security professionals have a narrow field of vision. For security to be an enabler and not a burden, you need to be able to step back and see the bigger picture.”
Ellsmore further spoke of being attracted to Mantel’s resources and mandate to pursue an aggressive growth strategy, with the Five V Capital-backed firm making no secret of its intentions. Now pushing toward the $200 million annual revenue mark, CEO Con Mouzouris recently told the AFR that the consultancy was looking to spend at least $100 million on further acquisitions over the next 18 months.
