Mobeus will be a significant minority shareholder in Ellis, providing strategic guidance and further funding to the business as it accelerates its growth in Europe and the US. Funding comes from Mobeus’s latest UK-focused small-cap buyout fund, Mobeus V, and represents its sixth investment.
Founded in 2010 by Jason Howlett and Rory Dwyer after successful careers leading large- scale ERP implementation projects, subsequently joined by Sean Flynn and Mark Thomas, who bought extensive recruitment expertise to the organisation, Ellis has grown to become a specialist leader in Oracle and SAP consultant placements. Operating under distinct brands, Ellis has established a strong presence in Europe and North America, utilising its proprietary database of enterprise software consultants to cater to clients across various industries and geographies.
The market for ERP software consultants is resilient and growing, driven by regular upgrade cycles and migration for both on-premise and cloud-solutions. With the support of Mobeus and incoming industry veteran Andy McRae as Chairman, Ellis aims to continue to expand its geographic and platform reach, delivering high-quality consultants in a persistently underserved and complex market.
Mobeus has deep sector expertise backing and growing human capital businesses. Mobeus’s track record includes recent exits for technology public policy adviser Access Partnership (4.4x MoC) and product design specialist Kinneir Dufort (2.8x MoC) in 2022, as well as its more recent investment in international innovation consultancy Intralink.
The investment was sourced by Dominic Draysey, with execution led by Jordan Kay with support from Richard Babington and Issy Jackson. Mobeus Portfolio Partner, Guy Blackburn and Jordan Kay will join the board on completion.
Richard Babington, Mobeus Partner, commented: “We are delighted to be invited to play a key role in the next stage of Ellis’s development. Since its establishment in 2010, Ellis has rapidly grown to become the market leader in Oracle interim resourcing in the UK and is well on the way to achieving the same position in the US. We have formulated an aggressive hiring plan in both geographies to achieve this, with a view to more than trebling our recruitment consultant base over the next 5 years.”
Mobeus received advisory support from Armstrong (Commercial DD), Beyond M&A (Technology DD), Chief People Office (Organisational DD), Clearwater International (Buyside), Cortus (Financial DD), Freeths (Legal), Grant Thornton (Tax Structuring), and Sustainable Advantage (ESG). Mobeus was introduced to Ellis by Connect Corporate Finance.
Ellis and its shareholders were advised by Dow Schofield Watts (Corporate Finance), Shoosmiths (Legal) and Tax Advisory Partnership (Tax).