Independent technology advisory firm C4C Group has been shortlisted for the Rising Star Award, one of the Reseller and Partner categories at the CRN Channel Awards 2026, described by its organisers as the longest running and most respected awards in the UK channel.
C4C Group, the trading name of Catalyst 4 Change Group Limited, is a finalist for the Rising Star Award, which recognises channel companies under five years old that are showing phenomenal growth and disrupting their field. The recognition places the firm among the new challengers reshaping how UK organisations buy and adopt technology.
Founded at the end of 2023 and trading in earnest from early 2025, C4C Group has built its reputation on a simple idea: genuinely independent advice, followed by the technical delivery to make it real. The firm works with organisations in telecoms, financial services and critical infrastructure, helping them choose the right technology, hold vendors to account, and manage it across its whole lifecycle rather than at the point of sale alone.
That approach has already seen the firm deliver at a scale well beyond its size. In the past year a small C4C team led a national broadband analytics programme for a leading UK telecommunications provider, delivering real time visibility across millions of connections. In a separate engagement, C4C used its vendor side knowledge to help a global healthcare distributor secure a substantial saving on a major software renewal.
"Being shortlisted this early in our journey tells us the market wants something different," said Paul Smith, Chief Commercial Officer at C4C Group. "We have grown quickly because customers are tired of being sold to and want to be advised instead. This recognition is a signal that independent, outcome led advice has a real place in the UK channel, and we are only getting started."
The firm attributes much of its early success to the background of its founding team, who spent years on the vendor side at some of the largest names in enterprise technology before setting up C4C.
"We spent our careers learning how vendors really price, position and negotiate," said Nick Watson, Chief Technologist at C4C Group. "We now use that experience for the customer, not against them. It means we can help businesses cut through the noise and deploy technology far more effectively, with none of the guesswork. That is what this shortlisting recognises."
Winners will be announced at the CRN Channel Awards ceremony at Battersea Evolution, now Evolution London, on 12 November 2026. You can see the full CRN Channel Awards 2026 shortlist on CRN's website.
C4C Group publishes free, vendor neutral guidance for technology buyers through its guides resource.
About C4C Group
C4C Group (Catalyst 4 Change Group Limited) is a UK based independent technology advisory firm. It helps organisations in telecoms, enterprise and critical infrastructure make better technology decisions, hold vendors to account, and realise measurable value across the full lifecycle of their investments. Combining deep vendor side experience with genuine independence, C4C works as a trusted partner rather than a traditional reseller.
Media contact: hello@c4cgroup.co.uk