Acquisition International - International Finance Awards 2017 11 SmartDebit Willis Towers Watson Best Direct Debit Bureau - UK Most Influential M&A Advisor 2017 - New York SmartDebit Willis TowersWatson SmartDebit are the UK’s leading Direct Debit service provider, with over 19 years’ experience in payment solutions for companies and organisations of all sizes. We spoke to SmartDebit to find out more. Willis Towers Watson (“WTW”) is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth. Michael Grant, one of the senior leaders of the firm’s Global M&A practice, tells us about his team’s role in the firm’s success. FN170007 FN170021 Established in 1998, SmartDebit provide timely and efficient payment processing for utilities, insurers, IT providers, schools and colleges, charities and a range of other subscription businesses. “Here at SmartDebit, we have the expertise to make it easy for any UK organisation to access advanced payment systems and significantly improve their cash flow. Different businesses and organisations, from small to large, require recurring payments, which contribute to more accurate forecasting, and enable them to run their operations smoothly. Every year, we process billions in customer payments accurately and efficiently, making the complex process of Direct Debit as straightforward as it should be. “Fundamentally, our objective is to become the UK’s leading recurring payments solution for medium and large enterprises. We deliver custom solutions that drive value for customers, in addition to nurturing a network of partners that extends the company’s services to meet our customers’ growing requirements.” Looking to the future, they conclude by highlighting how SmartDebit will continue to grow and build upon its current achievements. “With major regulations, such as GDPR and PSD2, to be implemented With roots dating to 1828, WTW has 39,000 employees in more than 120 territories around the world. The firm designs and delivers solutions that manage risk, optimize benefits, cultivate talent and expand the power of capital to protect and strengthen institutions and individuals. Michael discusses his global team and the broad range of services it offers. “The WTW Global M&A Practice is a dedicated team exclusively focused on servicing the needs of private equity firms and other alternative investment managers and providing cutting-edge M&A tools and advisory services. Our value proposition is simple – we provide a seamless global team and a single point of access to the mission-critical expertise, services and intellectual capital required to execute on all aspects of an alternative investment manager’s business. This includes risk management consulting, deal diligence advisory, insurance and employee benefits brokerage marketing and execution, structured transactional insurance solutions, and post-investment-close account management services for both the managers and their portfolio companies/assets.” As a practice leader, Michael effectively delivers a global service model to his clients that can respond to transactional issues anywhere in the world. This global platform in a flat organizational structure gives him the ability to deploy resources swiftly in a transactional environment in an effort to overcome obstacles and accurately determine and mitigate the effects of insurance- related issues on the enterprise value of potential investments. In his concluding comments, Michael discusses how far the firm has come over recent years and how it will continue to grow and prosper over the months and years ahead. “Over the past fifteen years, the WTW Global M&A Practice has invested significantly to expand our global capabilities in delivering results-oriented products and services to our alternative investment manager clients. We have over 200 dedicated professionals globally with a combined history of supporting more than 10,000 investment transactions. As a result, we are one of the most active brokers in the alternative investment manager space – we represent over 500 firms in the U.S. and over 750 worldwide, and manage the risk of over 4,000 portfolio companies, and moving forward we aim to grow even further and build upon our continued success.” in 2018, the financial services industry is facing challenges bigger than ever before. These are heralding our entrance to the “customer age” where consumers can easily switch service providers and take full control of their personal data. That is why it has never been more important to offer the highest standard of customer service. “We are aware of the changing consumer and financial landscape. With this in mind, we achieved customer excellence and streamlined an omnichannel service with live chat, social media along with mobile responsive designs of SmartDebit products. This is an exciting and inspiring time to run any business, and we are thrilled for the many opportunities this will bring.” Company: Willis Towers Watson Contact: Michael Grant Contact Email: Michael.Grant@ WillisTowersWatson.com Address: 200 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10128 Phone: 001 212 915 8430 Company: SmartDebit Address: Windlesham Court, 51 Guildford Road, Bagshot, Surrey, GU19 5NG, UK Contact Email:
[email protected] Website: www.smartdebit.co.uk Phone: 01276 851800