Oracle partner de Novo names Lynette Slater chief executive
Founder Mark Sweeny becomes executive chairman of the Newport-based Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow consultancy, which is also reshaping its top team around consulting and a newer outsourcing arm
- Tracy Stephenson becomes chief financial officer; she, Alexandru and Crisostomo also become board advisors.
- Chief people officer Charlene Young takes on responsibility for IT and compliance.
- The Sunday Times 100 ranks private UK companies with sales above £5m by three-year growth; de Novo said it came eighth in 2025.
- Sweeny takes the chair from his long-term business partner Tim Warner, who stays on as a non-executive director, according to BusinessCloud.
A founder handing day-to-day control to an operator from insurance and financial services looks like a bet on process and delivery over deal-making. Read alongside the new operating roles, it suggests de Novo sees its future in recurring run services after go-live rather than one-off projects. Rival Oracle and ServiceNow consultancies chasing public-sector HR and finance work should expect a more organized competitor.
“What has made de Novo successful is the expertise and commitment of its people.”Lynette Slater, chief executive, de Novo Solutions
Welsh Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow consultancy de Novo Solutions named Lynette Slater chief executive on 17 September, in an announcement it later published on its own Business News Wales channel on 21 September. Founder Mark Sweeny, who had run the business since it launched in 2021, becomes executive chairman.
The company says Slater has more than 30 years in insurance, financial services and software, where she led multi-million-pound change portfolios and built a professional services function. She takes over a team of about 150, based in Newport with a second office in Chennai, India. Its work moves HR, payroll, finance and procurement onto Oracle Cloud and ServiceNow, and it cites particular expertise with central and local government, police forces and multi-academy trusts.
Sweeny has done this before. He previously sold Certus Solutions to Accenture, as BusinessCloud reported. His second company has grown fast on its own account: de Novo says it featured in the Sunday Times 100 in 2025 and 2026, the FT1000 and the Deloitte Technology UK Fast 50.
The handover comes with a wider reshuffle. Alex Alexandru moves up from vice-president of finance experiences to chief operating officer for consulting, and Helen Crisostomo from vice-president of business development to chief commercial officer. Tara Dewar becomes chief operating officer for BPO and support services. In July 2025 the company had moved Dewar to set up de Novo Business Cloud Services, an AI-driven shared-services operation it said would come online in mid-2026 with its first contract already agreed.
Sources
- de Novo Solutions, “New Chief Executive Takes the Helm for De Novo Solutions’ Next Stage of Growth”, company announcement published on Business News Wales, 21 September 2026 (announced 17 September). https://businessnewswales.com/new-chief-executive-takes-the-helm-for-de-novo-solutions-next-stage-of-growth/
- de Novo Solutions, “de Novo Solutions Restructures For Next Stage of Growth”, company announcement published on Business News Wales, July 2025. https://businessnewswales.com/de-novo-solutions-restructures-for-next-stage-of-growth/
- de Novo Solutions, “de Novo Solutions Ranked Eighth in The Sunday Times 100 Fastest-Growing Companies”, company announcement published on Business News Wales, July 2025. https://businessnewswales.com/de-novo-solutions-ranked-eighth-in-the-sunday-times-100-fastest-growing-companies/
- BusinessCloud, “Founder passes baton at Wales’ fastest-growing tech firm”, September 2026. https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/founder-passes-baton-at-wales-fastest-growing-tech-firm/
- ChannelLife UK, “de Novo appoints Lynette Slater as Chief Executive”, 17 September 2026. https://channellife.co.uk/story/de-novo-appoints-lynette-slater-as-chief-executive
