6 Acquisition International - M & A Awards 2022 Oct22285 M&A Integration Specialist of the Year 2022 (UK): Samantha French Samantha French’s Virtual Services Company offers a different perspective on business services – it is trustworthy, supportive, passionate, and professional, and it strives to provide the best solutions for its clients. With customers flocking in from a plethora of industries, the company’s success is clear to see, henceforth, Acquisition International is delighted to recognise Samantha and Virtual Services Company as leaders within their industry. 2020 was a turbulent year, with the Covid-19 pandemic, political upheaval, and an economic crisis being at the forefront of everyone’s minds. The M&A sector met with a slow start in Q1; however, by Q2 demand was beginning to sky rocket as customers capitalised on the predictions of slow growth. The success of the sector has continued throughout 2020, 2021, and into 2022, with activity only just beginning to fall. Innovation flowed into the industry and out of it came an abundance of exciting new projects, businesses, and ideas. The Virtual Services Company came to be in 2020, founded by Samantha French as a specialist consultancy in M&A Integration and Separation as well as several other disciplines: Operating Model and Business Model design and implementation, e-Learning, Programme Management, Strategy and planning, Corporate Communications and Social Media. Indeed, the company provides these services to a highly diverse clientele, with customers ranging from start-ups to global corporations across a number of sectors, including Financial Services, Pharma, Healthcare, Telco, Media, e-Sports, Gaming, Automotive, Data, Food and Beverage, FMCG and many more. Moreover, the Virtual Services Company has worked on a number of well publicised transactions, such as the Divestment of Borsa Italiana from the London Stock Exchange to Euronext. Such projects were able to take place thanks to the extensive industry knowledge Virtual Services Company boasts. As Samantha tells us, ‘Our knowledge is based on experience from working within industry, this is where we differ from other consultancies and advisory firms. We have the knowledge and understanding of the full life cycle of M&A. We understand the challenges our clients face on a daily basis; we work to resolve these and so we put this at the forefront of our delivery. We work with our clients to ensure their business is set up for success. When our teams work on projects, the clients can rely on us to deliver and ensure the Integration or the Separation is successful. Our goal is to ensure the acquisition or divestment’s operational capability whilst building strong relationships with the programme and leadership teams – across both sides of the transaction.’ Client-centricity is, in essence, the company’s main priority, and therefore, Virtual Services Company embraces its core values. It vows to always provide a professional, quality service that is competitive in the market and exceeds its customers expectations. As such, it treats its clients with respect, working collaboratively with them in order to achieve their goals and objectives. These values – and the company’s strong moral principles – inform the way in which Virtual Services Company interacts with its clients from the beginning to the end of a project. Of course, this attitude ties into Virtual Services Company’s mission: to support UK professionals. Behind this goal is the Virtual Services Company team who work exceptionally hard to bring clients’ dreams to life. Each member of the team is treated as leader; their opinions are valuable to the company and the team works together to share knowledge. ‘Our vision is clear - the client comes first. Our values demonstrate honesty and integrity and recent feedback from client surveys has shown that this is well received,’ Samantha adds. The team’s role is quite simply integral to the company’s success, which is why Virtual Services Company strives to treat its employees with respect and understanding. For example, the teams are provided with a healthy work/life balance, which Samantha states ‘makes our Monday morning conversations enjoyable with catchups from the weekends.’ Samantha leads the team with integrity and transparency, utilising her wealth of experience in Strategy, M&A, and Integration and Separation to create a positive and motivated working environment. A leader through and through, Samantha is constantly looking for new ways to upskill – for new ways to benefit the clients – and as a result, she has built a business that is ever evolving and is adaptable. Consequently, as a hobby and for development, she is currently working towards a Doctorate at Aston University focusing
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