Housing technology firm Alertacall has been acquired by Canada’s Volaris Group, with the deal aimed at supporting the company’s continued growth.
Alertacall, which employs dozens of staff in Warrington and Cumbria, has been bought by the Toronto-based company, part of Constellation Software. Volaris has an established track record of acquiring technology firms and supporting their ongoing growth.
Chief executive James Batchelor MBE, who founded Alertacall in 2004, will remain in post until a successor is found, at which point he is expected to move into an advisory and ambassadorial role at the company.
Alertacall’s flagship service, OKEachDay, is used in more than 25,000 homes by some of the UK’s largest landlords. Users press a button each day to tell their social housing or retirement living provider that everything is fine at their property; if the button is not pressed, the provider can make contact to check whether anything is needed.
The service is delivered through a touchscreen device that also supports two-way communication between housing providers and residents, including repairs reporting and messaging.
The company won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2022, and Batchelor was made an MBE for services to technology for older people last year.
Batchelor said: “After more than 22 years of growing Alertacall, we are all incredibly proud to have built something that delivers such an amazing impact for so many people.
“Our team can feel proud that they are doing something which helps our customers every day, by keeping them connected and informed, combatting loneliness and isolation, while enabling them to continue living independent lives.
“However, with such huge opportunities to serve even more people, it felt obvious that now was the right time to become part of a bigger and stronger structure.
“This move creates a way for us to thrive for decades to come and opportunities for our team members to grow, which otherwise would have taken many years to realise.
“Having had many dozens of approaches from possible acquirers for Alertacall over the years, we felt this is the long-term home that will help us protect and nourish the very best of who we are.”
Andrew Humphrey, Volaris Group’s portfolio manager for the UK and Ireland, said: “Alertacall really is a one-of-a-kind venture.
“It invents socially positive new technologies and the team behind it are some of the most passionate people we’ve ever come across in business who are genuinely committed to leaving the world a better place.
“It has also grown whilst operating in extremely risk-averse markets. Achieving both these things at the same time takes something really very special. We’re all thrilled to be able to support the Alertacall team in the next phase of their journey.”
Batchelor founded Alertacall after inventing the ‘I’m okay button’ for his grandmother, Eveline, then 86, and the firm’s supporters have since included broadcaster and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen and former minister for care and support Sir Norman Lamb.
In 2024, it marked its 20th anniversary by planting 20,000 trees in the Lake District fells near Loweswater, in partnership with community interest company Buy Land Plant Trees.
Main image: James Batchelor MBE, founder of Alertacall, and Mark Miller, executive chairman of Volaris Group and president of Constellation Software Inc
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