Silicon Roundabout digital consultancy acquired by EY

Business advisory firm EY has announced it is purchasing Seren, a digital design consultancy based in Silicon Roundabout.

As part of the acquisition, Ben Langdon, the chief executive of Seren, will continue as boss of what will now be EY-Seren.

Seren co-founders Catriona Campbell and Terry Heath will become senior advisers to EY in the UK and EY-Seren.

The acquisition of Seren, which currently boasts a staff of 60, occurs as EY aims to grow its global strategy consultancy operation to 2,500 employees by 2020, and follows buy ups in the US and Australia.

Mr Langdon said: “Seren and EY have been working together for the last year on a number of shared client projects. We’ve spent the last 14 years developing market-leading design for customer service; joining EY will give us the opportunity to apply our collective skills to a range of clients around the world.”

Steve Varley, EY’s UK chairman, added: “This acquisition is a flagship transaction for EY in the UK. We’re already achieving considerable organic growth in the UK advisory business – it grew 15 per cent last year – but we are also committed to looking for opportunities for inorganic growth, especially when we find firms with cutting-edge innovation and a really strong talent pool like Seren.”