2nd March 2020, Sopra Steria (SSL), specialists in digital transformation services, announced today it has completed its acquisition of cxpartners, the industry leading consultancy specialising in customer experience and user-centred design. This is a strategic move in response to an industry need to put the customer at the heart of digital services. It will both expand Sopra Steria’s customer experience offerings and magnify cxpartners’ capabilities. Based in London and Bristol and employing over 50 designers, cxpartners is renowned for delivering award winning customer centric solutions for both the public and private sectors. Since establishing in 2004, it has worked with a range of clients including the government, FTSE 100 companies and organisations operating in multiple industries such as AXA, Google and Public Health England.
The acquisition will see cxpartners become an autonomous subsidiary of Sopra Steria. As such, it will see a minimal impact, with no changes to its brand identity, locations, employees or culture planned. Instead, the acquisition has been designed to have minimal operational impact and to reinforce the natural fit of the two brands.
Sopra Steria harnesses digital technology to tackle the most complex and critical challenges. It works with a wide range of public and private sector clients such as UK Visas and Immigration, the Financial Conduct Authority, Tesco, Centrica, McDonalds and the Ministry of Defence.
Customer experience has been identified as a business priority for organisations as they progress with digital transformation in a fast-changing climate, as revealed by recent research undertaken by Sopra Steria.
The research surveyed 400 decision makers across key sectors including retail, finance, transport and the public sector. Over half (53%) of organisations viewed improved customer experience as the main objective of digital transformation and just 36% use customer experience feedback to measure progress and success.
Speaking of the acquisition, Pierre-Yves Commanay, Executive Director - UK Consulting and Continental Europe at Sopra Steria said: “cxpartners is a natural fit for Sopra Steria; the business has a fantastic heritage and reputation and will complement and expand our customer experience and design capabilities. Welcoming cxpartners into the Sopra Steria group demonstrates our business-wide strategic focus to deliver end-to-end services centred around peoples’ needs.
We know from proprietary research that clients are increasingly focused on solutions anchored in user-centred design. This acquisition reflects our commitment to their needs and a strategic focus on customer centric transformation that is imperative for modern organisations to succeed.”
Giles Colborne, founding partner and CEO at cxpartners says, “We founded cxpartners 16 years ago with the mission to put people at the centre of technology. Technology is woven into the fabric of people’s lives; they’re constantly in contact with it every day from travelling to workin the morning through to listening to an audio book at night.
Many organisations are trying to bolt on customer experience and design. Our focus has always been to put customer needs front and centre right from the start. Joining Sopra Steria group will enable us to amplify this work on a much larger scale while benefiting from the deep operational knowledge of the business. We’re thrilled to have struck a partnership which sees us maintain our identity while joining forces with a respected brand which shares our values and passion for human insight.”
ENDS
About Sopra Steria
Sopra Steria, a European leader in consulting, digital services and software development, helps its clients drive their digital transformation to obtain tangible and sustainable benefits. It provides end-to-end solutions to make large companies and organisations more competitive by combining in-depth knowledge of a wide range of business sectors and innovative technologies with a fully collaborative approach.
Sopra Steria places people at the heart of everything it does and is committed to making the most of digital technology to build a positive future for its clients. With 46,000 employees in 25 countries, the Group generated revenue of €4.4 billion in 2019.
The world is how we shape it.
Sopra Steria Group (SOP) is listed on Euronext Paris (Compartment A) - ISIN: FR0000050809 For more information, please visit our website www.soprasteria.com
About cxpartners
cxpartners is a consultancy that helps some of the world’s best known companies create innovative digital services that customers love.
Founded in 2004 it has offices in London and Bristol, and works with a global roster of clients. It specialises in working with complex, highly regulated organisations in financial services, commercial, and the public sector.
But above all, cxpartners’ work proves that by involving customers throughout the design process it can deliver dramatically better outcomes for its clients and their customers.
For more information contact:
Carolyn Irwin
carolyn.irwin@bcw-global.com
Emma Morgan
emma.morgan@soprasteria.com