Popular industry figure James Hardy has been handed the top job at Advania UK following the resignation of Geoff Kneen.
Hardy joined Advania UK last year via its acquisition of CCS Media, and was in February made Group Chief Commercial Officer of the wider business.
Advania UK is now a £452m-revenue business following its double swoop on reseller duo Servium and CCS Media.
Sweden-based Advania first leapt into the UK in 2021 by acquiring giant Microsoft-focused MSP Content+Cloud.
Kneen had been CEO of the Cisco, Dell, HP, HPE, Lenovo and Microsoft partner – which ranked 26th in Oxygen 250 2025 – since 2022. He was previously Group MD at Content+Cloud.
He spoke to IT Channel Oxygen earlier this month about the Goldman Sachs-backed outfit’s efforts to transform into an “AI services company”.
“Leading Advania UK has been one of the most rewarding chapters of my career,” Kneen stated.
“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together and grateful to all the colleagues, clients, and partners who have been part of the journey. Now it feels like the right moment to create a bit more space for family, travel and personal goals, while leaving the business in excellent hands with James and the team.”
“The right moment for Advania UK to take the next step”
Having started his career at CCS Media in 2007 and risen to become its MD, Hardy now takes the reins of a wider Advania UK business with 1,600 staff.
In a statement, he claimed no company supports all the IT needs of the “hugely underserved” UK midmarket like Advania.
“I look forward to working with our teams, customers, and partners to make the most of this opportunity,” he stated.
Hege Støre, CEO of Advania Group, added: “This is the right moment for Advania UK to take the next step. We have successfully brought together four companies into one unified business, and now we have all the capabilities and vendor relationships needed to manage clients’ entire IT spend. That’s powerful for mid-market companies who need integrated technology solutions to stay competitive and future-ready. All the pieces are in place, now we execute.”
