Communicate scales growth strategy with investment from Rockpool

UK-wide IT and cyber security provider Communicate has successfully executed the next step of its growth strategy through its investment backed by Rockpool Investments.

This news follows a successful full-market approach carried out by Acuity Advisors and the Communicate Technology directors leading to investment by the London-based private equity investor.

The joint vision is to grow the business significantly over the next few years, leveraging Communicate’s strong market differentiation and business model, which wraps upfront infrastructure costs into longer-term contracts.

The business operates its own fibre network infrastructure, together with a dedicated Network Operations Centre (NOC) in Teesside and an in-house 24/7/365 Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Leeds, helping to protect clients against the most sophisticated cyber security threats

Communicate is based in Teesside and was founded in 2011 by Tony Snaith. Tony and the executive management team are re-investing alongside Rockpool and will be joined by Roger Flynn, who was appointed to the board as Non-Executive Chairman at the completion of Rockpool’s investment. All employees and directors of Communicate would be retained through this phase of expansion.

Rockpool Investments will provide the financial backing needed to grow the business significantly over the next few years. Part of this is continuing Communicate’s buy-and-build growth strategy, with future purchases of similar companies planned in line with the success of Communicates three previous acquisitions.

Tony Snaith, Chief Executive at Communicate says: “This investment into Communicate is a clear next step for us to achieve our growth strategy. Working with Rockpool will open doors for us to expand our full-service offering to more businesses and multi-tenanted sites and fortify Communicate’s position as a market-leader.”

Tom Coey, Investment Director at Rockpool, said: “This investment marks the first step on an exciting buy-and-build journey that we plan to undertake in partnership with Communicate’s highly experienced management team. It is very rare that we get the opportunity to back a business that has already sourced, completed and integrated three successful acquisitions to date. From the moment we met Tony, Konrad, David and Chris, we immediately bought into their passion and long-term vision for Communicate.

Marcus Allchurch, Managing Partner at Acuity Advisors, said: “Tony and the team at Communicate have built a fantastic platform with a compelling proposition for its customers which I believe shows true insight and empathy around their communications and IT needs. We have thoroughly enjoyed supporting Communicate to secure the right partner with whom to deliver the next stage of its growth and are thrilled to see the team receive backing from Rockpool. As the company delivers on its exciting growth plans I am quite certain that the market will see a lot more M&A activity from Communicate over the coming years, and look forward to supporting them with that journey”

About Communicate

We are IT, telecoms and cyber-security specialists, keeping over 500 businesses and 50,000 users connected and secure across the UK.

Since 2011, we’ve been connecting organisations of all shapes and sizes; fast becoming one of the industry’s leading internet service and managed security providers.

Our adaptable approach means clients can quickly and seamlessly add new services and users, offering flexibility to scale and integrate as you grow. From start-ups of two or three people to large corporate organisations and beyond, we’ve got you covered.

Connect with Communicate.

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About Rockpool

Rockpool Investments is a private equity firm dedicated to creating opportunities for high-net-worth individuals and family offices to invest in private companies. Rockpool provides equity and loan capital of between £5m to £15m to profitable UK-based companies and has invested over £675m since inception.