London – April 17th, 2020: WTA is pleased to announce the acquisition of Fretwell-Downing Hospitality by its client Civica UK Limited.
Acquisition of software-as-a-service business adds to Civica’s established compliance software portfolio.
Civica, a global leader in software for public services has announced that Civica UK Limited, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, has acquired specialist cloud catering management software provider Fretwell-Downing Hospitality (“FDH”).
Based in Sheffield, FDH employs approximately 50 people and has a long and successful track record across a broad customer base. The company, which supports more than 220 customers, provides specialist cloud software in particular to manage, optimise and improve the provision of catering services. Its specialist capability is highly complementary to Civica’s established activities and cloud-based growth strategy.
FDH’s market-leading software as a service (SaaS) solution Saffron streamlines activities from stock control, purchasing and management information solutions to the delivery of multi-site services. It underpins safety and wellbeing, supporting consistent and verifiable compliance with food standards and delivering key capabilities from allergen management to children’s nutrition and environmental awareness.
Saffron cloud software is widely used by local authorities, schools, universities and NHS Trusts, together with commercial businesses, many of which provide services to the public sector. The company has a strong history of supplying the healthcare sector and is working hard to support organisations in safely producing meals, taking orders and distributing meals to patients.
Wayne Story, Civica Group CEO, said: “I am delighted to welcome FDH to Civica. The company’s complementary cloud software and compliance expertise expands our capability and extends our market coverage in line with our cloud-first strategy. We look forward to the wide range of future opportunities that this creates to deliver additional value to customers in existing and adjacent markets.”
Phil Jones, Managing Director at FDH added: “We’re extremely excited to become part of the Civica Group, one of the UK’s leading software companies. This is a very positive move to enable us to expand our software into both the UK and global markets. We’re already proud of our position as a market leader and Civica’s knowledge and experience in providing cloud software solutions across a large customer base will be invaluable as we continue our growth in the coming years.”
Alan Butterworth, WTA’s partner commented “We’ve been working in partnership with Civica for two years and we are delighted to continue to be helping them acquire great companies as part of their portfolio development”.