EY acquires data & analytics specialist Bridge Business Consulting

Sydney-based data & analytics specialists Bridge Business Consulting has been acquired by Ernst & Young for an undisclosed sum.

The purchase, which comes just one month after Bridge’s 10th anniversary, will see 19 professionals specialised in data & analytics cross to EY’s Business Solutions team. Bridge co-founders John Desmond and Robert Mazevski have been appointed as partners.

“The acquisition of Bridge further bolsters our ability to support clients transform their businesses through data and analytics,” said Cameron Wall, EY’s APAC managing partner for Data & Analytics.

Established in Sydney in 2012 and with a further outlet in Melbourne, Bridge provides data strategy, engineering and management services along with analytics and artificial intelligence offerings to clients across a wide range of sectors, including those in consumer, retail, financial services and telecommunications among others.

“Bridge aren’t strangers to us – we’ve worked together over the years and seeing them in action and the similarity in our approach to clients and the way we work gives us a lot of confidence that we will make a great team.”

Earlier this year, Bridge Business Consulting was named among the AFR and Boss Magazine’s ten best professional services places to work.

“This is a great opportunity for us to continue to build our firm into an even stronger proposition for our people and our clients,” said Bridge co-founder and managing partner Mazevski. “Our team is excited about the scale and range of opportunities that they will have access to by being a part of EY where the connections across the globe will open up even more interesting and challenging client engagements for us.”

Joining as a partner, this won’t be Mazevski’s first experience at a Big Four firm, having first started out for more than five years as a consultant at PwC – before going on to serve as a senior managing consultant at IBM Global Business Services for a further five years. While fellow co-founder Desmond established Bridge following a period at AMP, one of the company’s senior managers, Shaun Baker, will be making his return to EY.

“We’re thrilled the Bridge team is joining EY,” said Steve Bingham, EY’s Technology Consulting lead for the Asia Pacific. “By bringing in new and experienced data and analytics practitioners to complement EY’s existing Data & Analytics team, we expand our capability and capacity to service our clients, as well as provide further opportunities to drive innovation of EY products and solutions.”