Willows Consulting acquired by eCommerce specialist Granite Digital

Granite Digital, Ireland’s leading full-service digital agency, has announced that it has acquired Willows Consulting, an eCommerce web development specialist based in Dublin. The acquisition will strengthen Granite’s eCommerce capabilities and will add 120 customers from Ireland, the UK, US and Asia to its growing client portfolio.

With offices in Cork, Dublin and Galway, Granite has grown to become Ireland’s largest independent digital agency. Its growing client base includes leading Irish and international brands such as Lidl, Dalata Hotel Group, Bord Bia and Huawei. Its innovative collaboration with Huawei Mobile enabled Granite to win ‘Best Influencer Led Campaign’ at the recent 2022 Spiders Awards. Granite has also recently been certified as a Great Place to Work.

Granite’s forecasts overall revenue growth of 25% to €9M in 2022, boosted by both organic growth and the acquisition of Willows Consulting. This follows strong growth in 2021 as it increased annual turnover by more than 20% to €7.3M. Granite’s growth has been driven by a strong demand for digital services and consultancy, as more and more organisations seek to transform the digital experience delivered to customers.

Willows Consulting will become a wholly owned subsidiary within the Granite Digital group. Founded in Dubin in 2002 by Sean Owens and Aine Williams, Willows Consulting delivers eCommerce website design and development services to companies of all sizes in Ireland, UK, US and Asia. These include the National Gallery of Ireland, Bord Na Mona, CityJet, Fexco and the FAI. Its open-source eCommerce technologies integrate with a wide range of B2B and B2C eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, Prestashop, Magento, OpenCart and BigCommerce, as well as accounting platforms including Intact, Sage50/200, Opera, SAP and Kerridge.

As part of its ongoing growth strategy, Granite is planning further acquisitions. In recent years, Granite has acquired and successfully integrated several digital businesses including Connector, Webtrade, MediaOne and Apps Made Easy. Granite has also hired an additional 20 new employees over the past year including web developers, UX designers, project managers and performance marketing specialists, growing its team to 80 people.

Conor Buckley, CEO of Granite Digital said, “Our latest acquisition provides us with much enhanced eCommerce skills and capabilities, as we strengthen our offerings in this area. Willows Consulting brings 20 years of eCommerce expertise and deep relationships with an impressive customer base from across Ireland, the UK and further afield. We’re delighted they have joined the Granite Digital Group as we further reinforce our position as Ireland’s largest independent digital agency. 

“Our digital-first mindset is driving our continued success. We expect 2022 to be stronger again as we look to accelerate our business expansion through organic growth and further strategic acquisitions.”

Sean Owens, Founder of Willows Consulting said, “We’re on a fantastic journey at Willows, delivering over 500 highly successful eCommerce projects for our customers over the past two decades. By joining forces with Granite, it gives us the scale and expertise to grow at pace and provide our customers with an even wider range of eCommerce and digital transformation services. We’re very excited by the opportunities that lie ahead for us.”

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