Sepura appoints Chris Barnes as new CEO

As part of a long-planned succession, Sepura has announced the appointment of Chris Barnes as its new CEO, effective from 1 October 2025. The UK-owned company describes itself as a leader in its sector and a trusted partner to public safety and business-critical customers across the globe.

Barnes brings a wealth of experience to his new role, having most recently led the growth of Tracsis — a software and technology business specialising in the transport industry — where he was CEO for six years. Prior to Tracsis, he held a number of senior positions at Ricardo, a global automotive engineering, test and consultancy business.

“Sepura has a fantastic reputation and market-leading technology used throughout the world,” Barnes said. “It has demonstrated great success in its core markets and, through its R&D hub in Cambridge, has successfully brought to market a range of products for the future needs of mission-critical services. I am very excited to be joining Sepura and will retain the culture of excellence that the company has built up over many years.”

Barnes will be taking over from Steve Barber, who has spent over 25 years with Sepura including eight as CEO. Barber said, “I am confident that Chris is the right appointment to continue the strong growth of Sepura. I look forward to supporting Chris during a handover period and then in the future as a non-executive director.”

Under Barber’s leadership, Sepura has become a global market leader, with an installed base of over two million devices supplied to mission-critical users in over 100 countries. In 2022, he led the buyout of Sepura with backing from UK investor Epiris. This enabled the development and acceleration of the SCL3, an advanced broadband hand-portable device, which will provide mission-critical voice and data in a single device and operating environment.

“Steve Barber has been an outstanding leader for Sepura, creating one of the UK’s leading technology businesses that is relied upon by millions of users every day,” said Ian Wood, Partner at Epiris. “We partnered with him for over two years to acquire Sepura from its previous owners, and since the acquisition in 2022, we have worked closely alongside him and invested heavily in the next-generation technology seen in the SCL3. We are delighted that Chris Barnes has agreed to lead the business and look forward to continuing our relationship with Steve in his new role.”

Image caption: Incoming Sepura CEO Chris Barnes.