Continuum was delighted to provide the Human Due Diligence support in the recent £13m investment by Bridges Ventures into World of Books.
Steve Wycherley, Director at Continuum, said:
‘Once again, our proven process expertly profiled individuals, the team and the organisation enabling us to report to the investment team at Bridges on capability, growth potential, team dynamics and human risks at World of Books.
‘We were pleased to work with Oliver Wyncoll and the Bridges team as well as to meet Stephen Boobyer and his team at World of Books. Since the deal has been completed, Continuum have followed up with feedback to the team at World of Books on the results of the human due diligence process.’
About Continuum
Continuum is an organisation development firm focusing on helping our clients to liberate human potential, to deliver value and achieve ambitions more rapidly. The main areas of our business are Human Due Diligence, Talent Assessment, Organisation Development and People Development. Over the past year we have been engaged by a number of Private Equity firms to provide human due diligence in their investment process.
About Bridges Ventures
Bridges Ventures LLP is a specialist fund manager focused exclusively on sustainable and impact investing – using commercial investment strategies to generate attractive financial returns alongside positive social and environmental impact. In the last 14 years, it has demonstrated that by using impact as a lens to identify and engage with investments, it is possible to deliver outstanding returns for investors and positive societal impact. The firm has now raised almost £800m across its Sustainable Growth, Property and Social Sector funds in the U.K. and the U.S.
About World of Books
Founded by a group of book-loving entrepreneurs in 2002, World of Books has been a pioneer in the re-use and recycling of books that might otherwise go to landfill – which is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions in the UK. World of Books works with charity shops and recycling merchants to collect and buy used books, while also buying unwanted books directly from consumers through its proprietary Ziffit ‘scan and send’ app.
The unique technology platform it has developed over the last decade enables it to re-sell as many of these books as possible across 22 online platforms internationally; while the rest are recycled to make corrugated cardboard packaging and newsprint. This allows World of Books to offer over 2m high-quality, low-cost used books for sale to a global customer base selling around 9 million items every year – while also reducing carbon emissions. It is one of the largest employers in the Worthing area.
If you want further information on how Continuum can contribute to the Human Capital Due Diligence in your investment process please contact us.
