Babble beefs up North West presence with Active acquisition

Acquisition of unified comms, mobile and cyber provider is Babble’s 17th in the UK

Babble beefs up North West presence with Active acquisition

Babble has expanded its presence in the North West of England through its acquisition of unified comms provider Active.

Active claims to serve more than 500 customers and has around 34 staff across its head office near Stockport and an office in Ellesmere Port.

The Gamma, Microsoft, Sophos and O2 partner claims to offer business mobile solutions and phone systems, IT support and connectivity to customers across industries including construction, transport and logistics, professional services and manufacturing.

Claiming to be the most acquisitive tech company in the UK, the latest deal marks Babble's 17th acquisition in the UK and follows on from other acquisitions in the North West of England such as its 2021 acquisition of comms partner Concert and its 2020 acquisition of Lake.

Babble turned over more than £40m last year and now has a presence across the South coast, the North West, the North East and Scotland as well as in the Midlands and London.

It claims to now service more than 5,000 businesses in the UK following its latest M&A move.

Active's CEO, Mark Boyle, will initially remain as part of the combined organisation and support the integration process.

Matt Parker, Babble CEO, said: "We're excited to have the opportunity to acquire a business of Active's quality and that its CEO, Mark, will be helping us on our ongoing journey. His experience of business in the North is unparalleled and we are both aligned in Babble's mission to help ambitious businesses succeed in this region."

"While we're growing rapidly, our core purpose continues to be to provide all our clients with the personalised and local service that they expect, regardless of where they are in the country. Our strategy of acquiring great businesses across the UK allows us to successfully do just that. Babble is going to continue to grow, which will only benefit our clients."

Mark Boyle, Active CEO, says: "This is an incredibly exciting time for Active's customers and staff. Being part of a company like Babble means we can provide an even better service to our customers and provide them more opportunities to grow. We'll make sure that they continue to receive the same level of excellent service as before, with a seamless integration into the Babble family."