We are delighted to announce that on 3rd August 2022 PEN Partnership limited has joined forces with Wavestone UK, a fully owned subsidiary of Wavestone SA, France.
Having grown to become a business turning over £15m-£20m with around 100 consultants engaged in client projects the management team at PEN knew our business would have to change to take the next step in our development. So, we began a strategic review to consider our options. Then, in common with all businesses, we had to deal with the pandemic, and we are pleased to say we emerged from that strongly with a renewed intent to supercharge our business and to broaden and deepen our client offering.
We have been through a process to consider the future direction and have concluded that in order to meet our objectives we need the support of a partner.
Having considered and discounted several options, and having undertaken a thorough market assessment, we are delighted to have identified Wavestone as a great fit with us to help take our business forward.
Wavestone is a French owned management and digital consulting firm who employ 4,000 consultants in 15 cities globally. Wavestone’s offices are predominantly in France and other parts of Europe, but they also have offices in the US, Casablanca, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The coming together of the two organisations fits perfectly with Wavestone’s strategic plan ‘Impact’ - to accelerate the firm’s external growth in its target geographies - and matches PEN’s ambition - to expand in the UK and US – which is the perfect platform for our Financial Services and Life Sciences ambitions.
Joining forces will enable a step change to be made in the UK consulting market and build a leading consulting player. The addition of PEN’s management consulting skills in the Financial Services and Life Science sectors to Wavestone UK’s technological expertise will offer a first-class proposition to clients to help tackle their transformation challenges, across these two industries and the wider UK market.
Throughout this process our culture has been constantly front of mind as we believe that this is a big part of why clients enjoy working with PEN people.
Wavestone are culturally driven, and their personable and impressive founder Pascal Imbert describes them as a ‘a larger business with a family feel’. They have a strong focus on CSR and sustainability in their work and are the number one Great Place to Work in France. In these ways we believe we are very well aligned.
Chris Gibson, PEN Partnership’s CEO, comments: “Wavestone and PEN Partnership together make a powerful combination and this is really great news for our clients and staff. The two companies provide complementary services and share very similar corporate culture and values. Wavestone has an ambitious growth plan and I am very excited for the PEN team to play a key role in building a leading consultancy player in the UK market.”
Reza Maghsoudnia, Strategic Development Director of Wavestone, says: “This merger enhances Wavestone’s ability to deliver global transformation programmes. With PEN, we can now accelerate our growth in the UK and deepen our value proposition in Financial Services and Life Sciences globally. It’s clear from our discussions with PEN that there’s synergies not only in the services provided, but the company culture. There is strong alignment on topics such as CSR, Diversity & Inclusion, as well as Great Place to Work®, and this is a key success factor for our project.”
What’s next? We are very excited about the possibilities which this partnership will bring. We’re joining a new organisation, but for now not much will change. We're still the same specialist consultancy and the same team delivering for our clients. If you would like to hear more about our plans, please get in touch with your usual PEN contact.
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