31 January 2014

Columbus acquires retail consultancy

Columbus acquires Omnica, a leading retail and e-commerce company based in the UK. The acquisition is a strategic move in line with Columbus’ ambition to further strengthen its global position as an innovative consultancy to retailers.

With Omnica’s e-commerce, and multichannel retail solutions, the acquisition consolidates Columbus’ position in the global retail industry. Additionally, Columbus will benefit from Omnica’s deep engagement and knowledge within the retail industry providing the global retail industry with world class e-commerce and multi-channel capabilities.

“We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of Omnica as it will enable us to service our global retail customers even better. E-commerce and multichannel retail are important for our customers, and with Omnica as part of our business we will gain unrivalled knowledge and insights in this field. We are also excited about the global potential in their software solutions with customers such as Lucky Vitamin, Eason and Direct Wines,” says Thomas Honoré, CEO, Columbus.

Since Omnica was founded in 2007, the company has consistently increased its market share within e-commerce and multichannel retail business and showed continuous growth in revenue and profit. Omnica has 30 employees with their HQ near Manchester.

“This agreement sees the start of an exciting new chapter in Omnica’s growth and development.  With Columbus’ global reach we can expand into new markets and take our multi-channel retail solutions to new levels.   It’s great news for our customers in terms of all-round capability, and it enables us to invest more in our employees, giving them the opportunities that come from working in a global business,“ says Harry Manley, Managing Director, Omnica. 

“Omnica is a well-managed company which has made for an efficient acquisition process. It’s a perfectly natural extension to our existing food, manufacturing and distribution consultancy knowledge, adding strong retail and e-commerce expertise. Globally, businesses are focusing on e-commerce to maintain market share, let alone grow it.  I’m really excited for both our existing and future customers that we can truly offer a complete solution”, says Mary Hunter, Managing Director, Columbus UK.

The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, is with immediate effect. Omnica’s management will remain in key management roles in the new setup that will continue to be led by Mary Hunter.

-ENDS-

About Columbus

Columbus is an international consultancy serving customers worldwide. We are experts in developing and providing business applications to the retail, food and manufacturing industries. We’ve proved this through 20 years of experience with more than 6,000 successful business cases. Columbus has offices and partners all around the world. For more information please contact Mary Hunter (UK) on +44 (0)1623 72 99 77 or email mhun@columbusglobal.com.

For further information, please contact:- Denise Taylor, Bridge PR & Media Services on 024 76 520025, or e-mail denise@bridgepr.co.uk