John Malone and Simon Howitt are sitting in an office in the Manchester head office of the InTEC Group. Over a video call, the two men are reflecting on the sale of Irish IT services provider Provident Technology to InTEC in January. For Howitt, it was InTEC’s 10th acquisition and its first move into the Irish market, a territory where it hopes to acquire more businesses. For Malone, it was the sale of a company that is more than 20 years old and is a respected niche player with eight staff led by his colleague Colin O’Callaghan.  Malone said that…