Comleys Sell Join the Dots to Management

UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots has been acquired by its senior management team from founders and previous majority shareholders Pete and Trish Comley. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Join the Dots, which was founded in 1998 and originally known as Virtual Surveys, provides research for advertising, customer experience, product and service optimisation, and sets up and manages online communities. The company, which has a team of 140 staff, also has an office in Singapore, and there are plans to open another international office later this year.

Before setting up the firm, Pete was a Partner at Simon Godfrey Associates (later sold to Research International) and a Researcher at Nestle, while Trish was a Business Analyst at Sainsbury's and an Analyst at Citicorp and Lloyds Register of Shipping. They have now sold the company to the MD Quentin Ashby, Sales and Marketing Director Graeme Lawrence, Innovations Director Andy Buckley, Head of International Andy Cumming, and Operations Strategy Director Adele Mann.

As part of the deal, the Comleys will reduce their shareholding in the £9.8m annual revenue business. Trish will be stepping down as Chairman of the company, while Pete will remain on the Board as a non-executive Director alongside Ashby and Lawrence. Speaking about the deal, Pete said: 'Trish and I are fortunate to have a really strong management team who share our business ethics. We have worked together and seen the company achieve fantastic growth. Given this success and the role the management team has played in our continued growth, we can't think of a better group of people to have passed the business onto'.

The deal was supported by HSBC, accountants Mazars and law firm Turner Parkinson.

Web site: www.jointhedotsmr.com .