GovNet completes management buyout led by CEO James Tucker

The management team of GovNet, the UK’s leading provider of public sector events, has completed a management buyout (MBO) of the company. This move, led by CEO James Tucker, will enable the company to execute on its exciting future growth strategy, which includes strategic acquisitions.

GovNet is an award-winning events provider and a key platform for the public sector to connect with solution providers across education, healthcare and technology. It supports and trains communities to learn, connect, grow and deliver world-class public services. Over the past four years, major GovNet exhibitions and conferences have included the Schools and Colleges Show, HETT (Healthcare Excellence through Technology), DigiGov Expo, Modernizing Criminal Justice Conference and Anti-Fraud Conference.

The acquisition follows a comprehensive reshaping and modernization process that began in 2019. GovNet has reimagined and re-implemented nearly everything to make it as scalable as it is today, including work culture, technology stack, leadership structure, product strategy, customer experience and governance processes. At a later stage it has the support of Collingwood through its scale-up programme. Collingwood’s corporate finance team provided comprehensive lead advisory support on the execution of a debt-backed MBO led by Tucker and funded by Icelandic challenger bank Kvika.

Tucker joined GovNet in January 2019 as chief operating officer and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business before assuming the role of CEO in early 2021. He said: “This is a landmark moment for our leadership team at GovNet and our fantastic colleagues who continue to work tirelessly to deliver outstanding experiences and connections to drive better public services across the UK.

“This exciting development provides us with a platform to put our best foot forward in 2025 and the following years. We are not saying goodbye to the past – it made us who we are today – but this is A pivotal moment. Now, we’re focused on relentlessly serving our customers and audiences and making it easy and fun for them to join us on the journey we’re on.”

Adam Shaw from Collingwood said: “We are delighted for James and the entire GovNet team. It has been a privilege to support the business’s ambitious transformation over the past two years and we look forward to working with GovNet on future growth plans ”