Key Takeaways

  • The company has acquired £8m-revenue Flow AI from SCC, lifting its forward revenue run rate to between £42m and £45m.
  • Flow AI and its roughly 90 specialists will underpin the firm's fourth technology practice, Digital Transformation.
  • The executive team expects further transactions, pursuing one or two acquisitions annually over the next three years.

CloudClevr has returned to the M&A market after more than two years, acquiring Flow Automated Intelligence, known as Flow AI, from fellow Rigby Group-backed business SCC.

The transaction gives the SME and midmarket-focused managed service provider an established operation spanning document services, business process automation and information management. Flow AI generates roughly £8m in revenue and employs about 90 specialists, all of whom are moving to the newly combined organization alongside the existing management team.

Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal raises the forward revenue run rate to between £42m and £45m, but the chief executive described the purchase as just one of several transactions the Microsoft, Zoom and Mitel partner intends to pursue.

“This is a friendly acquisition, although I’m not sure there’s a technical term for it,” the CEO noted.

That friendly status has practical consequences. The sale followed a non-competitive process, while common ownership links through Rigby Group made due diligence lighter than it might have been in a conventional auction. Valuation still followed standard parameters, according to the executive team. For Flow AI customers, the reported focus is continuity: staff and management are transferring with no operational change planned.

Flow AI will become the foundation of the new Digital Transformation practice, joining Digital Workplace, Network Services and IT & Security. The practice will concentrate on AI & Automation Services and Data Services, providing a more defined route into projects involving workflows, documents and enterprise information.

When SCC acquired the operation in 2018, it was known as Hobs On-Site and focused primarily on document services. Flow AI has since developed automation products and services that leadership believes align naturally with the expanded portfolio.

The timing aligns with broader market trends. MarketsAndMarkets projects that the global AI customer service market will reach about $15.12 billion in 2026 and approach $48 billion by 2030, representing an annual growth rate of 25% to 26% (source) (source). Adjacent platforms from Salesforce, Microsoft, Google Contact Center AI, Zendesk and Intercom are making automation more accessible, but many midmarket customers still need help connecting those products to data, workflows and existing service operations.

That creates an opening for managed service providers with implementation and operational expertise. Gartner projects that conversational AI will reduce contact center labor costs by around $80 billion in 2026. Yet it also estimates that fully automated customer interactions will account for only about 10% of the total in 2026, up from 1.6% in 2022. The opportunity is substantial, but the market remains in transition. Independent expertise is required to manage the deployment gap between an AI demonstration and a dependable production service.

CloudClevr is positioning Flow AI as part of that answer. To succeed, the combined operation will need to turn specialist capabilities into repeatable managed services, with clear governance around data quality, security and human oversight. ITIL 4 can provide useful service-management disciplines, while ISO/IEC 27001:2022 offers a recognized basis for protecting information used across AI-enabled processes.

Pricing may prove another challenge. IDC survey data from 2026 indicates that 55% of IT buyers expect AI-powered managed services to cost more than traditional offerings, while 37% anticipate lower prices. That split suggests customers are still working out whether AI should be treated as a premium capability, an efficiency mechanism or both.

The organization has spent the previous 18 months integrating five earlier acquisitions, including NGC Networks, 4Sight Communications, Bamboo Technology Group and Twisted Fish. Long-term funding secured from NatWest last November allowed the firm to declare itself back in the acquisition market in April.

The executive team sees improving deal activity, including ARO’s sale to TalkTalk Business and Gamma’s ongoing sale process, as evidence of a healthier environment. Organic growth remains difficult in a soft market, making M&A attractive to buyers with funding and an integrated operating platform.

The firm plans to complete one or two acquisitions each year for the next three years. Future targets could add specialist capabilities or customer scale. Flow AI does both to a degree, but its larger significance lies in establishing a credible fourth practice as market demand shifts toward formalized AI deployment.