News and Insights

ECI-backed Ciphr has moved into the employee benefits business, with the acquisition of Avantus.

Avantus, founded in 2005, serves over 400 businesses globally through its intuitive, and fully customisable, employee benefits and rewards platform, FlexGenius, and its popular, white-labelled solution MyWorkPal.

This is the third acquisition since ECI's investment for Ciphr, having bought Marshalls (now Ciphr eLearning) in April 2023 and Shape Payroll in June this year, and builds on Ciphr’s strategy to acquire UK businesses that complement its core HCM offering. It’s also its largest acquisition to date – significantly expanding Ciphr’s customer proposition to include employee benefits and wellbeing for the first time.

Avantus’ robust platform enables employers to deliver unlimited, personalised benefits choices to multi-generational workforces with diverse needs and differing expectations and priorities. It can help strengthen organisations’ Employee Value Proposition, support their talent retention, recruitment and recognition strategies, and streamline the admin process for HR. And it empowers employees to manage and see the value of their eligible core and voluntary benefits, such as salary sacrifice, medical and dental cover, retail discounts, pensions, and financial protection, in one central, easy-to-use, portal.

Philip Curtis, Avantus’ co-founder and CEO, and his 30-strong team will also join Ciphr Group from today.

The comparison is often made between business leaders and orchestra conductors - not playing a specific instrument, but rather bringing an ensemble together to create something exceptional.

In reality, a conductor's role extends way beyond waving a baton and is a great example of leadership. They require a crystal-clear vision, exceptional communication skills and have to adapt quickly and manage multiple stakeholders. To bring the comparison to life, we spoke to the acclaimed and multi-award-winning saxophonist, conductor and arranger Phil Meadows about what makes a great leader.

Phil is recognised as one of Europe’s most talented and creative musicians, celebrated for his innovative approach to music. He’s a double Parliamentary Jazz Award, London Music Award and Peter Whittingham Jazz Award winner, and has collaborated with renowned ensembles including the BBC Concert Orchestra, Metropole Orkest, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Scottish pop icons, Texas.

Holding a long-standing residency at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, and often managing ensembles of up to 100 people from diverse backgrounds, Phil has developed an exceptional leadership style.

Here are his top five insights for achieving this:

1. Foster an environment that caters for mistakes.

In music, as in business, true innovation comes from embracing risk. For me, the most exciting music stems from creative freedom and having the ability to freely explore thoughts and ideas without judgement.

When working with virtuoso musicians (or highly skilled teams), risk is accompanied by vulnerability. People open themselves up to criticism, putting their insecurities on display to develop their skill sets or contribute something new. When exploring new ideas, it’s crucial to foster an environment where mutual encouragement, shared learning and calculated risk-taking are valued and supported.

People who feel secure in their risk-taking, are more likely to contribute groundbreaking ideas.

2. Clarity of vision to inspire

When conducting orchestras, having a clear artistic vision is essential. I start all projects with in-depth research, exploring the music’s heritage and societal role. I aim to develop a programme, or performance approach that resonates with musicians, audiences and listeners alike and effective communication is key to achieving this.

Orchestral music is a team effort and to harness their skills, I need to clearly communicate my vision from the outset. I start before a note is even played by sharing playlists in advance and using the start of the first rehearsal both to provide cultural context and to outline the key goals for the project.

As rehearsals progress, I remain flexible and open to the musicians’ creative input and review my plan at the end of every session. Everyone brings unique strengths, and by listening and adapting the final performance benefits.

3. Diversity breeds creativity

I’ve always been passionate about bringing together different cultures and musical genres, and I’ve been fortunate to work on projects spanning Classical, Jazz, Nigerian Folk, Afrobeat, Hip-Hop, Grime, Dance, Electronic, Contemporary Classical and Commercial Pop.

Many of the orchestral collaborations I work on bring together multiple genres, meaning each project has a unique set of influences and often demand skill sets that go beyond traditional orchestral norms. To achieve this, I assemble diverse teams of specialists from the genres involved, where possible integrating the non-classical musicians into the heart of the orchestral line-up.

This approach allows musicians to play to their strengths, share knowledge, and learn from one another. By fostering a melting pot of creativity, we’re then able to honour the roots and traditions of the music whilst creating a new space for collaboration to flourish.

My work with the Metropole Orkest and 101 Barz (Orchestra and Hip-Hop), Engines Orchestra x Femi Temowo (Orchestra with Nigerian Folk and Afrobeat) and the BBC Concert Orchestra and Texas (Orchestra and Commercial Pop) are great examples of fusing different musical communities and cultures.

4. Make listening to others a main focus

Every ensemble I work with is filled with incredible talent and expertise. Each musician brings a unique story, skillset and perspective that can add value to any project. I may craft the overarching vision and guide the orchestra, but the players know a lot more about their instruments than I do. They’ve dedicated decades to mastering their individual craft, so it’s important I listen and make space for their input.

The success of my projects relies on facilitating an environment where everyone feels confident to ask questions and comfortable offering suggestions, even within the traditional hierarchies and structures of an orchestra. Although the vision I develop provides direction, I always incorporate space for flexibility into the plan, recognising that the musicians’ insights are crucial to producing the best possible music together.

5. Build on people’s weaknesses through their strengths

My approach to skill development uses existing strengths to develop areas of weakness and was key in my work with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra’s under-18 programme, where I spent a decade nurturing young talent. It continues to guide my methodology for world’s top professional orchestras and forms a core part of my PhD research.

The approach is grounded in the science of learning, with a focus on the retention of new information. Essentially, it’s about linking new skills to what we already know and ensuring we don’t overwhelm ourselves by trying to learn too much at once.

The science behind this is detailed and my approach combines two theories, but its practical applications are reasonably straightforward. Pressing (1984) determined that we can most effectively learn one new skill at a time, whilst using two sets of established knowledge clusters to support the process. Wolfe (2010) developed the ‘working memory’ concept which combines the need for multi-sensory instruction (learning through a variety of methods that support each other to aid long-term retention) and the reinforcement of new information repetition.

Essentially the approach strengthens our neural pathways, making it easier to recall and apply what we’ve learnt. But put simply, it’s about linking new skills to what we already know and ensuring we don’t overwhelm ourselves by trying to learn too much at once.

You can see Phil perform live throughout the year. His dates can be found here.

An exciting milestone for ECI-backed TAG which has announced significant leadership expansion for 2025. Following our investment in TAG in April 2024, this move supports TAG's long-term strategic growth plans to further consolidate its position as the leading travel management company in entertainment and high-end corporate travel.

Jens Penny, Chief Executive Officer at TAG, announced the appointment of several executive positions to support the delivery of the long-term strategic plan and to ensure the company structure reflects the global nature of the business.

We're delighted to announce our investment in Croud, the global full-service digital marketing company. This investment sees ECI take a majority stake in the business, enabling Croud's leadership team to continue scaling as a global leader in digital-first, tech-enabled marketing over the next five years.

Following a highly competitive selection process, ECI was chosen as the ideal partner for Croud’s next stage of growth, with a clear alignment of ambitions and values and a successful track record in media, data and technology investments including MiQ, Investis Digital, Imagesound and Clarity Blue.

In partnership with ECI, Croud is set to expand the business through further acquisitions and organic growth. The investment will enable Croud to retain its leadership in media, data and creative services benefiting current clients, such as Amazon Prime, Aston Martin, Coach, Nespresso and the VF Group (including Timberland), who will continue to access the most competitive marketing capabilities.

The transaction marks an exit for LDC, following a successful five-year partnership with its threefold growth attributed to:

• A disruptive operating model conceived at Croud’s inception. This includes the Croudie Network, a global marketplace of 2,900 digital marketing domain experts. They deliver, alongside Croud’s in-house digital marketing specialists, cost-efficient resourcing and flexibility. Enabled by Croud Control, a proprietary tech platform delivering AI-powered planning, workflows, automation and execution of digital marketing campaigns.
• Geographical expansion with Croud’s rapid growth in the US market under the leadership of Kris Tait, US MD and Dean Gardner US COO, driven by major account wins including Nespresso, and the recent Vert Digital acquisition (Atlanta-based digital media agency) growing Croud’s US footprint.
• Portfolio breadth, with the acquisition of Born Social and its strong leadership under Ben Tyson, CEO, and Charlotte Hamill, COO. The award-winning social-first creative agency has gone on to win prestigious clients such as Barclays and Ford, as well as expanding its Diageo relationship with Smirnoff in the US and achieved a 45% CAGR since its acquisition.
• Acquisition and successful integration of acquired media, data and technology companies, such as Impakt Advisors (data advisory) and Metageni (a leading attribution services and platform provider) to accelerate the growth of Croud’s marketing technology business.

Core to delivering this strategy has been the experienced leadership of the business. Last year the company appointed Avinash Kaushik, the Google Senior Executive, as Global Chief Strategy Officer and Board Director. More recently the company appointed Rick Stallings as its first Global Chief Data Officer, and Dani Jordan as its first Chief Marketing & Integration Officer.

The deal, which exchanged in October will complete next month.