Euan Andrews: moving swiftly

Digital design agency xDesign has acquired CreateFuture, bringing together 450 staff across the two Edinburgh businesses.

Customers include Adidas, NatWest, Penguin and Tesco, contributing to an expected combined turnover in the region of £35 million.

Both brands will be retained, though the newly-merged business will operate from the offices of xDesign, which launched in 2010. Its new partner was created in 2016. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Euan Andrews, 32, xDesign’s chief executive and founder, said. “We need to have the ability to move swiftly to where the market is heading when it comes to product design and innovation.

“In CreateFuture, not only have we found a talented group of people who have a proven track record of delivering this, but, most importantly, they share our vision for putting people at the very heart of everything they do.”

Jessica Mullen, CreateFuture’s co-founder and managing director, said the deal would enable the firm to reach a bigger market.

xDesign, which is the larger of the two firms with about 400 staff, last week appointed Darren Dalrymple as head of Scotland.  The move comes as the company posts a year of record growth and plans to open a Glasgow office in summer 2023.