Onecom, one of the UK’s largest independent providers of business communications and IT services, today announces the appointment of Aaron Brown as Group Chief Executive Officer, effective 1st May 2026. He succeeds Darren Ridge, who returns to a non-executive director role on the Onecom board.
Aaron co-founded Onecom with Darren in 2013 following the merger of Premier Telecom and Business Phones Direct. Since returning to the business as Chief Operating Officer in June 2025, he has increasingly led the day-to-day operations of the group. This appointment formalises that structure as Onecom enters its next phase of growth.
Onecom serves more than 65,000 UK businesses, employs over 900 people across 16 UK locations, and has completed 14 strategic acquisitions in the past five years, including Olive Communications, Excalibur Communications, IMS, Daly Systems, Gradwell Communications and Matrix IT. The group generates annual revenues of approximately £220 million and is backed by LDC and Ares Management.
As CEO, Aaron will focus on accelerating Onecom’s growth strategy by deepening integration across recent acquisitions, scaling the group’s managed IT services capability, and continuing to lead consolidation within the UK business communications and IT services market.
A key part of this next phase is the launch of Halo, Onecom’s new Agentic AI platform, enabling businesses to deploy intelligent digital agents that can handle voice, messaging and operational workflows. Halo expands Onecom’s proposition beyond traditional communications into Agentic AI-powered digital workforces, creating a significant new growth engine for the group.
Darren Ridge said: "Aaron has been instrumental in driving the business forward over the past year in his role as COO, and this appointment reflects the impact he is already having. He combines strong operational leadership with a clear vision for where the market is heading. With Halo launching and the business firmly back on the front foot, this is the right moment for him to lead Onecom into its next phase of growth. From the board, I will continue to support Aaron and the executive team."
Aaron Brown said: "Onecom is in a strong position, with real momentum behind us. Our focus now is on accelerating growth, executing with pace, and scaling what we know works.
“The launch of Halo marks a significant step forward. It allows us to go beyond traditional communications and IT services, enabling our customers to deploy AI-powered digital workforces that transform how their businesses operate. This creates a powerful new growth engine for Onecom and a meaningful advantage for our customers.
“I am excited about building on everything Darren and I have achieved together so far, and about leading Onecom to a new chapter of growth.”