Alex Tatham - CEO, 4 Tay Consulting Limited

Alex Tatham is one of the most recognised faces of the UK IT industry, having worked in the IT channel for 30 years. Having qualified as a chartered accountant with EY, he joined Ideal Hardware – then an innovative data storage distributor, as Head of the Ideal Institute – the company’s training arm. Progressing into a Sales Manager role, the business caught the internet wave perfectly and was one of the first to trade its live stock to business customers via an internet trading tool.  The business was sold to a US business – Bell Micro in 2001 with Alex running the commercial side of the business and developing a strong software business.  Bell Micro took Alex all round the world as Head of Global Software which Alex turned into a £1bn revenue business. 

After Bell Micro was sold in 2007 Alex soon joined Westcoast, the UK’s largest privately owned technology business, initially as Sales & Marketing Director and then as MD. The business grew dramatically in the 16 years Alex was with Westcoast from £600m in 2007 to £4.2bn in 2024. 

The business has been recently sold, and Alex has now taken up a portfolio of IT related businesses as a consultant or non-Executive Director. 

Alex has always had a passion for education and promoting the IT industry as a career to future generations – particularly girls who are under-represented in IT.  He chairs the Thames Valley’s Cornerstone Employer Group and is an active Enterprise Adviser to schools in the area – most recently Maiden Erlegh School in Earley, near Reading. 

He graduated from Durham University with a degree in Zoology and is most famous for meeting his wife on the UK’s first ever reality TV show – Blind Date in 1988.  They are still married and have two children.