David Walsh has announced that he is to step down as Chief Executive Officer of Netwatch at the end of this year.
David, who co-founded Netwatch 17 years ago alongside his friend Niall Kelly, will move to the Board of Directors as a founder and major shareholder and will focus his time on the future strategy and expansion of the international group.
Commenting on his decision, David said; “The past 17 years have been a period of constant expansion for the company, growing from three employees and a single customer in January 2003 to 550 staff servicing 250,000 customers today. The US market offers the biggest opportunities for Netwatch in the next phase of our evolution, it has become very clear to me that for this business to take advantage of these opportunities we need a US based CEO, and I hope to have new CEO in place over the next few months to facilitate a smooth transition.”
Dr Martin Scott, UK & Ireland Partner, Riverside Company said; “David Walsh is an inspirational leader and a visionary who saw opportunities where few others saw them and built an amazing business on this. Introducing proactive video monitoring was a game changer in the security industry and set a new bar for excellence. Under his stewardship Netwatch invested heavily in R&D and developed a suite of software solutions that enables the company to win large complex projects on the global stage.”
Carlow is at the heart of our business, and that is not going to change. We have invested heavily in Carlow, building a state of the art Communications Hub and our R&D remains located here. I am extremely proud of all we have achieved since our establishment, revolutionising the security market in Ireland by introducing proactive visual monitoring and innovations such as managed services. We are now achieving similar impact in the United States and our operations continue to grow there. It is incredibly exciting to have our Irish technology business transform the US market in this way. My focus from the Board will be to drive this transformation and expansion, and support our global management team.”
Dr Martin Scott, UK & Ireland Partner, Riverside Company said; “David Walsh is an inspirational leader and a visionary who saw opportunities where few others saw them and built an amazing business on this. Introducing proactive video monitoring was a game changer in the security industry and set a new bar for excellence. Under his stewardship Netwatch invested heavily in R&D and developed a suite of software solutions that enables the company to win large complex projects on the global stage. Riverside are a global private equity firm, and we partner and back with the very best entrepreneurs with international vision. When I met David and he shared his vision, I knew that we had met a true leader we could back. As an Irishman myself I am proud to have backed Netwatch as we go global, leading the next wave of technology in this domain. I am personally delighted to call David a friend, and look forward to serving alongside him on the Board where the group will continue to benefit from his vast experience and knowledge.
David will remain on the board of directors, alongside co-founder Niall Kelly. As a major shareholder and board member, he will continue to work with the team and facilitate the incoming CEO. The new CEO will be based in the US, to be closer to the emerging market. The structure will help Netwatch achieve similar impact in the United States as our operations continue to grow there.
David’s announcement to the team was a emotional one all round, the staff at Netwatch have a close-knit culture and David is a pivotal to this. Knowing David will remain within the business evokes a confidence for the Netwatch staff as they look forward to the next chapter of success for Netwatch.
