Go Inspire, the Leicester-based print, digital marketing and communication services provider, has been acquired by Xerox as part of the US giant’s strategy to expand its global digital services presence.
Go Inspire, which serves customers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, was launched in 1992 as Graphic Inline and acquired Eclipse in 2017; it became Go Inspire the same year, around the time of a management buyout spearheaded by CEO Patrick Headley.
According to its latest accounts, the company had sales of £51.8m in the year to March 31 2021, although like most businesses, it also saw a substantial level of disruption because of the Covid pandemic. The year before it had made record profits.
The company’s major clients include Sky, Tesco, British Gas, Pets At Home, Cancer Research UK and PDSA.
Meanwhile, Xerox can trace its roots back to 1906 when it was founded in Rochester, New York, as The Haloid Photographic Company and manufactured photographic paper and equipment.
In 1969 Xerox researcher Gary Starkweather invented the laser printer by modifying a Xerox 7000 copier and it now sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries; it had sales of just under $7.04bn (£5.9bn) last year.
Last week, the company announced that its CEO John Visentin, who had been in the role since 2018, had died due to complications from an ongoing illness.
Darren Cassidy, UK & Ireland managing director and senior vice president, EMEA Global Document Services at Xerox, said: “We’re focused on widening the scope of Xerox’s digital and customer engagement services.
“Go Inspire’s capabilities will support the transformation of our transactional and direct mail services into multi-channel communications, accelerate growth in EMEA and create new avenues for us to help current and new clients.”
Go Inspire’s Headley, who will remain CEO of the business, added: “We are thrilled to join the Xerox team and eager to contribute to the growth of Xerox Digital Services.
“Together with Xerox, we will expand the portfolio of high value services for our expanding client base throughout the UK and beyond.”
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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