Acquisition creates tongue-twisting EY whyaye brand
Big Four firm EY has announced the acquisition of whyaye. The Newcastle-based consultancy specialises in services for the ServiceNow platform.
Drawing its name from Geordie dialect – ‘why aye’ essentially being an enthusiastic ‘yes’ – whyaye is an advisory brand with around 120 staff. Since launching in 2019, whyaye has worked as a specialist service provider for the ServiceNow platform – a digital network which combines diverse business data and processes into a consolidated, integrated and automated services management solution.
As the demand for digital consulting services grows across the UK, this positioning attracted the attention of EY. The Big Four firm has moved to acquire whyaye as part of ongoing investments in its technology consulting services, to meet these needs.
Benoit Laclau, EY Managing Partner for Consulting, UK & Ireland, commented, “We are seeing strong levels of client demand for technology consulting and are making significant investments to expand and strengthen the skills and capabilities we can offer clients as they transform and future-proof their organisations. The acquisition of whyaye is an important addition to EY Consulting in the UK as we look to grow our market capabilities around the ServiceNow platform.”
Looking ahead, the addition of whyaye will enable the EY and ServiceNow to expand their strategic collaboration, helping more companies be more agile and productive in an era of rapid change. Together, EY and ServiceNow’s teams will continue to help businesses leverage automation, to be more competitive and agile.
Alison Kay, EY Managing Partner for Client Services, UK & Ireland, noted, “This is the eighth acquisition in the UK in just over two years and is part of our wider growth strategy. EY whyaye will enhance our thriving consulting services, bringing new capabilities and skills and follows the recent acquisitions of Frank Hirth, Pythagoras Communications, Seaton Partners, Lane4, PeakEPM, Blackdot and most recently Digital Detox.”
Moving forward, the Newcastle-based firm will go by the tongue-twisting name EY whyaye, and work to support the growth of EY technology consulting services by expanding capacity, capabilities and market presence around the ServiceNow technology platform. whyaye CEO Maureen Robson-Norman will meanwhile join EY as a Partner.
Robson-Norman added, “This is an important milestone for whyaye and we’re excited to be part of the EY organisation. ServiceNow is an incredibly powerful platform which can help bring significant efficiencies to a business when used to its full potential. We’re looking forward to working collaboratively with EY teams to accelerate our growth and work with clients on their transformation journeys.”
