Market research business snapped up by international group

Quentin Ashby

InSites Consulting, based in Belgium and one of the world’s most innovative insight agencies, today announced its acquisition of online insight community innovator Join the Dots for an undisclosed sum.

As the five-time winner of the AURA Insight Communication Award and named High Growth Business of the Year for 2018 by the British Chamber of Commerce, Manchester-based Join the Dots is not only a reference in the UK market, but also a key research innovator globally.

With more than 20 years of experience in the field of online research and insight communities, the agency deploys an award-winning suite of tools helping its clients understand and engage with their consumers around the world.

“Join the Dots has long been admired for their progressive work in the qualitative space. As global markets are shifting towards the reality of having more open and ongoing connections with consumers, we’re eager to leverage the wealth of expertise Join the Dots brings to the table,” said Kristoff De Wulf, co-founder and chief executive of InSites Consulting.

“By joining forces, we are taking a giant leap forward in becoming the market leader in online insight communities and in shaping the future of ongoing consumer dialogues,” he added.

Following the partnership between InSites Consulting and private equity firm Mentha Capital since October 2018, the procurement of Join the Dots marks the insight agency’s fourth acquisition in just 18 months, after having added Australia-based Direction First, South Africa-based Columinate, and creative crowdsourcing agency eÿeka, headquartered in Paris.

With Join the Dots operating from Manchester, New York and Singapore, InSites Consulting extends its geographical presence to 10 client service offices across five continents.

The group will enter the UK, USA and Singapore markets under the name Join the Dots | InSites Consulting, while the InSites Consulting brand name will be used across other markets.

“We are very enthusiastic to benefit from a more global dimension, not only gaining access to the InSites Consulting Global Community Moderator Network, but also being able to service our existing clients better, and from various different markets,” said Quentin Ashby, Join the Dots chief executive.

“This larger-scale workforce will allow us to accelerate the development of our unique technology suite, and certainly aid us in enhancing our insight ecosystem.

“We are looking forward to an exciting journey together, combining our complementary strengths to shape the future of the industry together.”

Housing a team of more than 170 people, Join the Dots brings a sizeable talent pool to the growing InSites Consulting group, reporting revenues of £13m in the latest financial year.

Next to a focus on online insight communities and qualitative excellence, Join the Dots also injects specific expertise on social media listening and foresighting through its ‘Culture & Trends’ unit and Illume Network, a global network of trend spotters.

Now €50m+ in revenues and 450+ people strong, InSites Consulting has the ambition to become the ultimate next-generation insight agency offering the scale, footprint and expertise global clients are looking for, while at the same time staying true to its flexible, innovative, people- and technology-driven way of working.

“We share a highly similar vision on the future of our industry and the responses we need to formulate. That also holds for our organisational culture: innovation runs deep in our joint DNA and so does our love and caring for our people. While our technology gives us an edge to delivering quality solutions, it means nothing without the brilliant and creative people engaging with our technologies and communities.” said Kristof De Wulf.

Quentin Ashby, left, and Kristof De Wulf

“We plan on building on each other’s strengths and on the incredible expertise Join the Dots brings to the table, to offer our ever-growing list of clients even more benefits and value.”

The former Join the Dots leadership team will play a significant role in the integrated organisation, by not just joining as shareholders, but also taking critical leadership roles.

Quentin Ashby joins the board of directors and the executive committee.

Graeme Lawrence, chief client officer at Join the Dots, joins InSites Consulting’s group of global account management. Andy Cumming, divisional director at Join the Dots, becomes managing director of the Manchester office. Andy Buckley, innovation director will supervise the global client solutions portfolio, while Pauline Reeves, chief financial officer will take on the responsibility of global head of finance and accounting.

David Hilton and Sachin Parmar from Mazars in Manchester provided corporate finance advice to the shareholders of Join the Dots, with legal advice provided by David Easdown and Matt Flanagan from Knights.

David Hilton said: “Join the Dots has embraced growth and continued its international expansion since Mazars advised on the MBO back in 2017.

“The transaction with Insites Consulting will enable the combined group to provide a truly global solution for its enviable client base.

“It has been a pleasure to work with the Join the Dots team again and we look forward to seeing what the next instalment in their story holds.”

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