Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) announces a £25 million investment in Redwood Technologies Group, the UK-headquartered international provider of communications technology and cloud contact centre solutions.
Originally founded in 1993 by brothers Sean and Martin Taylor, Redwood, which owns the cloud communications provider Content Guru, has deployed communications solutions to more than 50 countries from its offices in Europe and North America. Redwood has experienced strong and profitable organic growth, with revenues increasing by 30% in both 2017 and 2016. Investment from SEP will accelerate a global expansion strategy that focuses on Asia-Pac for 2018, with a regional office opening in Tokyo during Q1.
The Group’s storm® platforms provide ‘mission-critical communications’ to a blue-chip client base of utilities, travel, financial services and retail organisations, as well as government and public-sector bodies
Interview with Jonathan Parkes at Customer Satisfaction UK
Please tell me about your involvement in the deal?
Customer Satisfaction UK were asked by Scottish Equity Partners to conduct a programme of in-depth telephone interviews with a sample of Redwood’s clients.
How did your involvement contribute to the overall success of the deal?
Conducted by our intelligent and experienced interviewers, the discussions went beyond the typical customer referencing process. They explored every element of the interactions between Redwood and their clients, from initial engagement to ongoing relationships, involving individuals ranging from high level decision-makers to front-line users.
The comprehensive, objective and detailed insight we provided was valuable to SEP in assessing the quality and strength of client relationships, enabling them to better evaluate potential risk and return. It was also valuable to Redwood, identifying strategies and actions going forward to drive their continued growth and prosperity. The customers themselves also found the exercise beneficial, providing frank feedback about changes which could improve the service they receive and help them to make better use of the services involved.
What challenges arose? How did you navigate them?
As always, the first challenge was to ensure that we were interviewing the customer individuals with direct current experience of Redwood Technologies’ services at both the strategic and tactical level. Careful questioning confirmed that we were asking questions appropriate to their role and experience, ensuring relevant, accurate and up to date information.
The next challenge was to ensure that questions were answered fully and frankly. As usual, customers were very willing to talk about services important to them personally and professionally. To maximise the opportunity, the skilled interviewers at Customer Satisfaction UK managed the conversations with these busy people sensitively, listening carefully to obtain the information needed, whilst also being good ambassadors for Redwood.
We kept SEP closely informed and maintained a flexible approach so that we could respond promptly to probe more deeply when we encountered issues of particular interest to them.
Our ultimate challenge was to provide SEP with customer feedback which provided a deep, objective and informed understanding of the entire nature of Redwood Technologies’ customer relationships upon which they could assess the value and risk of their investment.
We provided an insight that was useful not just in ensuring a successful transaction, but in contributing to a post-acquisition action plan to address issues identified and ensure Redwood Technologies’ continued success and prosperity.
