NRI’s Planit expands UK presence with acquisition of Shift Left

NRI’s local subsidiary Planit has picked up UK-based competitor Shift Left for an undisclosed sum, continuing the firm’s drive to become the leading player in its field.

Sydney-headquartered engineering consultancy and services firm Planit – which was last year acquired by Japanese consultancy and systems integrator Nomura Research Institute for a reported $300 million – has continued on its own growth path with the purchase of Yorkshire-based IT quality assurance specialists Shift Left.

“We are thrilled to welcome Shift Left to the Planit group and leverage their suite of services and strong customer base to expand our offerings throughout the UK and into Europe,” said Planit chief executive Mike Weale.

The deal pushes Planit’s UK headcount beyond 300 staff. “We see the UK and Europe as key to executing our Vision 2030 strategy, and have aggressive plans for expansion.”

According to the firm, the acquisition will position Planit as contending for the second spot amongst specialist quality engineering service providers worldwide – with its eyes firmly fixed on reaching number one. Founded in 1997, Planit is now pushing towards 2,000 employees spread across offices in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, India and United Kingdom.

Shift Left, meanwhile, was established in 2015 by current managing directors Alan Upton and Dave Rigler in the north of England, and has since grown to service clients across the UK and Northern Europe via a team of more than 80 consultants. The company will retain its brand following the acquisition, and continue to be led by its current senior management.

“This is an incredible milestone for Shift Left and will launch the next stage of growth,” Rigler stated. We were listening to the needs of our customers, and we could clearly see the opportunity to expand our global reach and extend our service offerings. Not only did we have a historical relationship, we also knew Planit had the capability and capacity to move our business forward.”

As for the company’s existing local employees, Weale notes that they will immediately benefit from increased learning and career opportunities across the combined entity. “They can access our world leading training offering, take advantage of our global mobility program, and gain experience across our broad client-base. We also see this as a great benefit to our customers.” 

Since its backing by the Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed NRI last year (which boasts a global headcount upwards of 16,000 employees in 100+ offices worldwide), Planit has also acquired Qual IT, the company’s primary competitor in New Zealand, along with cybersecurity specialist SEQA.

Planit stated at the time that the US market will also be a focal area for growth.