Growing Newcastle tech firm whyaye ltd has been snapped up by EY as part of the global accounting giant’s investment in consulting services.
Based in the Toffee Factory in Ouseburn, whyaye was founded by Maureen Robson Norman, Anna Bisset and Lisa Smith, who met while working on a Royal Bank of Scotland project in 2014, to bring a new approach to the UK consultancy landscape.
The company last year expanded from Hoults Yard into the bigger base in Ouseburn, having taken on new staff in tandem with growing numbers of new clients. The company is a consulting services provider for the ServiceNow platform, which combines business data and processes into one services management solution. In the last year, whyaye has seen staff numbers increase from around 60 to more than 100 employees across the UK.
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EY has acquired the business for an undisclosed sum as part of ongoing investments in technology consulting services, and the company is the eighth EY acquisition in the UK since April 2021. Last year EY unveiled plans to double the size of its UK and Ireland consulting services over the next four years, backed by £75m of investment.
The Ouseburn acquisition is set to be rebranded to EY whyaye and it will support the growth of EY’s technology consulting services by expanding capacity, capabilities and market presence around the ServiceNow technology platform. Maureen Robson-Norman, whyaye CEO, will join Ernst & Young LLP as a partner.
Maureen Robson-Norman, CEO of whyaye, said: “This is an important milestone for whyaye and we’re excited to be part of the EY organisation. ServiceNow is an incredibly powerful platform which can help bring significant efficiencies to a business when used to its full potential. We’re looking forward to working collaboratively with EY teams to accelerate our growth and work with clients on their transformation journeys.”
Benoit Laclau, EY managing partner for consulting, UK and Ireland, said: “Our UK consulting teams achieved record levels of growth last year and we have maintained the momentum into this financial year. We are seeing strong levels of client demand for technology consulting and are making significant investments to expand and strengthen the skills and capabilities we can offer clients as they transform and future-proof their organisations. The acquisition of whyaye is an important addition to EY Consulting in the UK as we look to grow our market capabilities around the ServiceNow platform.”
Alison Kay, EY managing partner for client services, UK and Ireland, said: “This is the eighth acquisition in the UK in just over two years and is part of our wider growth strategy. EY whyaye will enhance our thriving consulting services, bringing new capabilities and skills and follows the recent acquisitions of Frank Hirth, Pythagoras Communications, Seaton Partners, Lane4, PeakEPM, Blackdot and most recently Digital Detox.”
Jordi Ferrer, vice president and general manager UK&I at ServiceNow, added: “I am delighted to see the continued investments in EY Technology Consulting services by expanding capacity, capabilities and market presence around the ServiceNow technology platform. The addition of whyaye will enable the EY and ServiceNow strategic collaboration to expand further, helping more companies be more agile and productive in an era of rapid change. Together, EY and ServiceNow teams will continue to unlock value through workflow automation to help businesses be more competitive and agile, employees be more capable and engaged and customers have better experiences.”
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