Matt West Becomes the CEO and Leads MBO of Customer Reviews and Insights Firm, Recognised as One of Britain’s 100 Fastest-Growing Private Technology Companies

Feefo, the reviews and customer insights technology company, has announced that chief revenue officer Matt West, supported by the management team, has completed a management buyout of the business, backed by London based private equity house Vespa Capital.

The deal means the management team acquires the shareholdings from Feefo co-founders, CEO Andrew Mabbutt and CSO Matt Eames, along with that of Chairman Nicholas Wheeler and the minority shareholders.

The strengthened team now comprises: Matt West as Chief Executive Officer; Richard Sawney, Chief Finance Officer; Paul Greatbatch, Technical Director; Steph Heasman, Director of Customer Success; and James Winn, US Vice President of Sales and Operations.

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“This deal is an important and significant milestone for Feefo, which is fast becoming one of the most disruptive and forward-thinking technology brands,” said Matt West. “This new investment will fuel our ambitious programme of enterprise-level expansion, while enabling further innovation within our market-leading data analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities. The continued evolution of our technology as a comprehensive customer experience management platform is enabling brands to make smarter business decisions every day.”

The agreement was completed on 15 November with the co-founders and existing shareholders being advised by leading European technology and media investment banking boutique, Stella EOC. The management team, led by Matt West, were advised by Livingstone, the International Mid-Market M&A and Debt Advisory firm.

Feefo Holdings was established in 2010 by Andrew Mabbutt and Matt Eames, achieving rapid expansion, recognised by The Sunday Times Tech Track as one of Britain’s 100 fastest-growing private technology companies. Earlier this year Feefo gained status as a Google Partner and is seen as a leader in review-based advertising. Feefo uses machine learning through its “Smart Themes” and “Performance Profiling” solution to help customers instantly find the information they want in real-time, while clients gain an easier and faster route to customer insights and trends.

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“Being a founder and part of the team and journey that has witnessed Feefo develop into a superior customer experience technology business has been brilliant,” said Andrew Mabbutt. “The buyout represents the next chapter for the brand, initiating even more growth and innovation. Feefo is a great business run by ambitious people and will no doubt continue to do amazing things.”

Of the partnership with Vespa Capital, Matt West said “The level of experience, integrity and effective execution meant that Vespa were the right choice for Feefo. They recognised the unique opportunity we have in the market and shared our vision for growing Feefo into one of the most innovative customer experience management platforms.”

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