CloudClevr buys Flow AI to expand digital services

CloudClevr has acquired Flow Automated Intelligence from SCC, adding a digital transformation business to the group.

Flow AI will form the basis of a new Digital Transformation Practise within CloudClevr. The acquired business brings about £8 million in additional revenue and around 90 employees.

The deal is the next step in CloudClevr's acquisition strategy after the managed services provider completed the integration of four specialist businesses into a single operating model earlier this year and began seeking further targets.

Flow AI has operated for more than 20 years in document services, business process automation and information management. It serves private and public sector customers across the UK.

Within CloudClevr, the new practice will focus on two areas: AI and Automation Services, and Data Services. It becomes the fourth specialist practice in CloudClevr's operating model, alongside work in IT, security, communications, collaboration, customer contact, connectivity and mobility.

The acquisition also reflects a broader approach to AI across the group. Rather than running AI as a separate line of business, CloudClevr plans to use it across its practices, with an emphasis on operational use cases.

CloudClevr was established in 2023 and is backed by Rigby Technology Investments. The business was built through the integration of NGC Networks, 4Sight Communications, Bamboo Technology Group and Twisted Fish IT.

Growth plan

CloudClevr has been expanding its footprint in UK managed services while adding adjacent areas through acquisitions. The purchase of Flow AI adds specialist expertise in automation, data handling and information management as many service providers look to broaden their offer beyond core infrastructure and communications.

For Flow AI customers, services and existing agreements will remain unchanged during the initial period after completion. The business will continue to operate separately at first, keeping its brand, leadership and customer relationships while a phased integration begins.

This structure allows CloudClevr to preserve Flow AI's existing operations while bringing its services into the wider group over time. Customers on both sides are expected to gain access to a broader range of services.

Steve Harris set out the rationale for the transaction in comments released by the company.

"When we completed our integration programme earlier this year, we were clear that the next stage for CloudClevr was about scale, both organically and through targeted acquisitions that strengthen our proposition. Flow AI is exactly that kind of business. It brings established expertise in automation, document services and information management, but more importantly it gives us a strong foundation from which to build our wider Digital Transformation capability across automation, data and AI. Automation, data and AI will play an increasingly important role in how organisations operate, and this acquisition gives CloudClevr another important capability as we continue to build and scale the business," said Steve Harris, Chief Executive Officer, CloudClevr.

The addition of Flow AI gives CloudClevr a more direct presence in business process work that often sits alongside core managed services contracts. Document workflows, information management and automation projects can be closely tied to wider technology spending by organisations in regulated industries and public services.

Across the UK technology services sector, providers have been using acquisitions as a faster route into areas such as automation, data analysis and AI-related consulting. For mid-sized managed service providers, those areas can offer higher-value work and create opportunities to sell a wider set of services to existing customers.

CloudClevr's decision to keep AI within each practice rather than create a standalone unit also suggests a focus on applying the technology to existing operational problems rather than marketing it as an independent service line. In practice, that can mean linking automation and data work to communications, IT support, customer contact and security services already sold by the group.

Flow AI's experience in document services and information management may also be relevant to organisations seeking to modernise older administrative systems. Those projects can involve digitising paper-based processes, automating routine tasks and improving access to internal information.

The acquisition adds another layer to CloudClevr's effort to build a larger national managed services group from a series of specialist businesses. With around £8 million in added revenue and 90 staff joining the organisation, Flow AI becomes both a bolt-on purchase and the base for a new business unit within the group.

Flow AI will initially continue to operate as a separate entity while integration proceeds in stages and customer relationships remain in place.