Digital acquisition

Business Micros has acquired Echo Digital Media (EDM), better known in this industry under its twin brands of The Consultancy and The Glazing Vault, for an undisclosed sum.

Graeme Bailey, managing director of Business Micros, said the investment in EDM will have long term benefits for both businesses, giving them the opportunity to share expertise and resources, as well as to develop new opportunities together.

“EDM is already a really good business, with a great team and really exciting products, particularly in terms of its pricing and ordering portals,” he said. “With Business Micros’ backing, we think it has the potential to be even better, and we will certainly be looking to invest further in both the team and the product range.

“Customers probably won’t notice any differences in the short term but, over time, we are confident that they will see some really significant improvements in how we both operate. For instance, EDM will now have access to the datasets held within Business Micros to make their portal development quicker and easier, while Business Micros will be able to use the digital design expertise at EDM to enhance the interface on many of our products.

“We’ve got some really exciting new plans as well which will make the most of the obvious synergy between the two businesses, building on our individual strengths and making us even better as a group.”

EDM will operate as a separate business within the Business Micros group, in the same way that BM Aluminium, the specialist aluminium software business, has done since 2007.

Paul Callaghan, EDM’s managing director, said: “We’re becoming part of the industry’s biggest software provider, which has spent over 40 years building a deserved reputation for service and innovation. That’s a really exciting opportunity for us and gives us the platform we need to push on to the next phase in our growth.”