Olive Jar Digital to target private sector following £6m investment by IW Capital

By Bridging Loan Directory 15th March 2021

Award winning digital consultancy, Olive Jar Digital, is preparing for growth following a significant £6m investment by IW Capital.

Northampton-based Olive Jar specialises in digital transformation projects, helping businesses move away from laborious, manual and paper-based processes.

Utilising a mixture of data, software and artificial intelligence (AI) capability, the firm builds efficient user-friendly systems and programmes to transform clients’ digital services and talent management.

Now Olive Jar is preparing for expansion into the private sector as it aims to build on its already successful partnerships with the likes of the NHS and the Department for Education.

Shawbrook Bank, the specialist lender to UK SMEs, supported IW Capital with a £1.5m leverage loan.

Douglas Lidgitt, Investment Director at IWC, said:

“Olive Jar Digital is a consistently performing digital consultancy business with long-term, embedded relationships in the public sector.

“This investment is focused on enabling the organic growth of the company through continued expansion into new segments in a growing market.

IW Capital is pleased to continue to work with the founders that have built the business to its current position and have a clear strategy for the next stage of development.”

IW Capital was founded in 2011 and specialises in funding fast growth and tech focussed SME’s.

To date, they have successfully developed an established portfolio of around 30 investments across a broad range of sectors and typically target investments in the range of £1m-£10m.

Douglas added:

“This is our first transaction with Shawbrook, who acted quickly to support our investment in Olive Jar Digital with the flexible funding required.

Shawbrook showcased the specialist knowledge and expertise required to support our acquisition and we look forward to working with them again in the not too distant future.”

Olive Jar Digital was launched in 2015 by co-founders Rajesh Thakrar and Olivia Nixey. Both founders will be retained following the acquisition, with IW Capital maintaining majority ownership.

Rajesh Thakrar, Co-founder of Olive Jar Digital, said:

“I am truly excited about our new partnership with IW Capital and Shawbrook, where we can build on Olive Jar’s great achievements and take it to the next level, whilst maintaining our passion for all things digital.

This is a super opportunity for us to grow what we do well; transform digital services intuitively.”

Olivia Nixey, Co-founder of Olive Jar Digital, added:

“I’m extremely proud of Olive Jar, the team that we have in place and what we have achieved so far together.

I’m very much looking forward to working with IW Capital and Shawbrook to build on that success. This partnership enables Olive Jar to evolve even further, to move into new markets and to grow at a much faster pace. I look forward to a successful future together.”

Steven Munt, Director within Shawbrook’s Corporate Lending team for London and the South, said:

“This transaction presented an outstanding opportunity for Shawbrook to support an experienced sponsor and strong management team with a conservatively structured loan.

Olive Jar’s management has successfully grown the business to where it is today; but understood that additional funding and expertise was required in order to achieve the full potential of the business.

We are eager to see how our funding will help Olive Jar Digital – with the support from IW Capital – evolve into a leading digital consultancy for the private sector in the UK.”

Shawbrook was introduced to this deal through Chris Hall at Tatsu Partners Debt Advisory.

Financial due diligence was carried out by BDO with legal representation from Pinsent Masons, representing Shawbrook, and EMW for IW Capital and TLT for Olive Jar Digital.