Serbus has acquired Westica Communications Limited, adding specialist wireless network capability as it builds a larger UK presence in secure critical national infrastructure communications.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, brings Glasgow-based Westica into the Serbus group and marks Serbus’s fourth acquisition since December 2022. Westica specialises in the design, deployment, and support of microwave and UHF/VHF radio networks, critical communications systems, cyber secure networking, and infrastructure solutions.
Founded in 1994, Westica has more than 30 years’ experience in secure radio network communications. Its work spans demanding environments including critical national infrastructure, utilities, blue light services, government, transport, oil and gas, and enterprise sectors.
Serbus is backed by Aliter Capital, a private equity investor focused on buy and build activity in the UK support services sector. By adding Westica, the group gains deeper technical capability in Scotland and a stronger base for serving customers across the UK.
Simon Fieldhouse, Group CEO at Serbus, said: “This is another important step for Serbus in building a business to meet the increasing needs of CNI customers. Sector expertise and a focus on security, operational health and safety, and compliance is core to the Serbus strategy, and we recognise in Westica the same commitment to resilience, reliability and customer service. The addition of Westica to our Group extends our security DNA and strengthens our mission to connect and protect the services that matter most.”
Westica directors Stevie Dynes and Andy Hunwicks will remain with the business and work with Serbus and Aliter on the group’s growth plans. The continuation of that leadership should help preserve the customer relationships and technical knowledge that underpin Westica’s position in secure radio communications.
Stevie Dynes, director at Westica, said: “Our success has always been built on technical expertise, responsiveness and customer relationships. Joining Serbus Group allows us to build on those foundations and invest further in the future. We are excited about the additional capabilities and opportunities this partnership will create for our customers and colleagues moving forward.”
Serbus is aiming to become a UK market leader in B2B critical network and ICT infrastructure managed services within the CNI sector. The group combines secure infrastructure, communications capability, and government grade security expertise, with foundations in environments including UK Special Forces, UK Government, emergency services, and national healthcare.
Critical communications providers are facing a more complex operating environment. Radio networks, secure digital connectivity, mobile communications, cyber security, monitoring, and resilience planning increasingly overlap, especially in sectors where service continuity carries safety, regulatory, or national resilience consequences.
In power, transport, public safety, healthcare, defence, and utilities, communications infrastructure cannot be treated as a commodity layer. Systems must continue to operate through physical disruption, cyber incidents, severe weather, remote geography, and emergency conditions. That places a premium on specialist engineering knowledge, compliance discipline, and long-term support.
The UK’s critical national infrastructure market is also subject to sharper policy attention. The Government’s proposed cyber security and resilience reforms are intended to strengthen protections for essential services, placing more emphasis on suppliers, supply chain assurance, incident reporting, and operational resilience.
Similar concerns are visible across the wider cyber and infrastructure market. SolarWinds’ appointment of a CISO to support its resilience strategy underlined how security is now being embedded into architecture, supplier management, product development, and executive oversight rather than confined to incident response.
Westica gives Serbus both geographic reach and technical depth. Microwave and UHF/VHF radio systems remain important where fibre, public mobile networks, or standard enterprise connectivity may be unavailable, unsuitable, or insufficiently resilient. The acquisition also extends Serbus’s position in Scotland, where energy, public sector, transport, and remote infrastructure needs can require specialised communications expertise.
Private equity backed consolidation has become common in specialist support services where fragmented technical markets can be combined into larger platforms. The commercial logic depends on more than acquisition volume. Customers in CNI-facing markets expect continuity, accreditation, auditability, and consistent delivery standards, making integration discipline central to whether a buy and build strategy creates durable value.
Serbus now has to bring Westica’s specialist capability into a broader managed services platform without weakening the responsiveness and technical culture that made the business attractive. In critical infrastructure communications, scale is useful only when it strengthens resilience, local service, and customer confidence.
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