Why Integritis is using acquisitions to build a broader business services platform
Clients want joined-up advice across governance, compliance, cyber, risk and operations
Hello Rainmakers,
Just over a year after launching, Integritis has made its first acquisition, and the deal says as much about the changing shape of the professional services market as it does about the Midlands-based company itself.
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The acquisition of specialist governance consultancy JS Information Governance (JS-IG) doubles Integritis’ turnover overnight, adds regulatory depth in data protection and compliance, and increases headcount by 50%. Strategically, however, the transaction appears less about scale for scale’s sake and more about building a broader integrated business support platform at a time when SMEs and scale-ups are increasingly looking to consolidate suppliers.
For Integritis, the move reflects a wider structural shift in the market. Businesses operating in regulated, technology-led and fast-growth sectors are facing rising operational complexity while simultaneously trying to avoid the cost and fragmentation associated with multiple external advisers.
That is creating demand for integrated operators capable of combining governance, risk, cyber resilience, compliance and operational support under one roof.
Kieran Morgan-McGeehan, co-founder of Integritis, says the strategy is being shaped directly by that shift in client behaviour.
“M&A is absolutely part of our long-term growth strategy, although it has to be the right fit culturally and commercially,” he says.
“The market is also becoming increasingly interconnected. Clients no longer want fragmented advice across governance, compliance, cyber, risk and operational support. They want joined-up, commercially minded partners who can solve problems across multiple disciplines.”
In that context, the acquisition of JS-IG looks highly deliberate. Rather than entering an entirely new market, Integritis has acquired an adjacent specialist capability that strengthens an existing service line while deepening recurring client relationships.
JS-IG has spent more than a decade building expertise in data protection, Freedom of Information (FOIA), Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) and outsourced Data Protection Officer services. Those capabilities sit naturally alongside Integritis’ existing work across governance, cyber resilience and risk management.
The deal also reflects a broader trend across UK professional and advisory services, where firms are increasingly attempting to build multidisciplinary platforms capable of cross-selling services into retained client relationships.
