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ClearCourse acquires two payments businesses Adelante and E-Novations

Oct 06, 2020

London | 06 October 2020 - ClearCourse Partnership LLP (“ClearCourse” or “the Group”), a group of innovative technology companies providing useful, integrated software solutions to businesses around the world, today announces the acquisition of two UK based payments businesses, Adelante and E-Novations. The acquisitions are ClearCourse’s 19th and 20th, marking a major milestone in its expansion and bolstering its payments capabilities.


Adelante was founded in 1998, and provides a diverse range of credit and debit card payment solutions through its ConnectPay gateway. The platform allows its clients to process payments online, over the phone or through a smartphone app, and through its bespoke recurring card payment hardware system. Reticent of the diverse needs of individual companies, Adelante does not take a one-size-fits-all approach, instead allowing its clients to choose which elements of its product suite are the best fit for them. Adelante’s clients comprise of well-known high-street retailers, local authorities, and membership organisations including Ann Summers, Scholastic and Surrey Heath Council.


Darrell Bluck, Managing Director of Adelante said: “I’m incredibly proud of what the Adelante team has achieved over the past 22 years. We have secured a position as one of the UK’s most successful payments processing businesses, facilitating nearly nine million transactions a year. We were ready to take the business to the next level and in ClearCourse we see the ideal partner to drive further growth at a rate that matches our ambitions. I’m looking forward to working closely with Gerry and the team to deliver the best possible payments solutions to our clients.”


Adelante and E-Novations will become an important part of our evolving payments solutions


Gerry Gualtieri – CEO, ClearCourse


E-Novations is a global provider of EPOS (electronic point of sale) software and hardware to the retail and hospitality sectors. Founded in 2000 and with offices in the UK, Hong Kong, India and UAE, it provides clients with digital payment collection solutions, comprising cloud-based dashboards and automated processing that integrate seamlessly with its proprietary payment terminals. It also offers 24/7 consultancy services and support to its global customer base which includes the NHS, Rugby Haven, CostCutter, and Moorfields Eye Hospital.


Manoj Jethwa, Founder and CEO of E-Novations commented: “ClearCourse is an innovative company that has emerged as a leader in the payments and technology sector in the UK. As we planned our expansion, we realised that growth would require opportunities to globally scale our business. ClearCourse has a large portfolio of complementary businesses through which we can realise numerous operational synergies. Working together, we are certain that E-Novations and ClearCourse can make an impact on the payments processing sector.”


The two companies join a rapidly growing family of complementary businesses that have payments functions at their core. ClearCourse has already demonstrated the ability to integrate its Group companies technology to create synergies and realise operational efficiencies, including integrating direct debit functionalities into its CRM systems.


Gerry Gualtieri, CEO of ClearCourse, commented: “Both these new acquisitions represent an exciting point in our journey. Now comprised of 20 companies, we have built one of the largest groups of technology companies in the UK, serving hundreds of thousands of end users around the world. Adelante and E-Novations will become an important part of our evolving payments solutions, enabling us to integrated workflow and payments capabilities to our clients and delivering both operational and cost benefits.”

a man and a woman are playing tennis on a tennis court at night.
07 Feb, 2024
London, 7 February 2024 – ClearCourse, a leading provider of industry-specific software and embedded payments for SMEs and targeted enterprises, announces the acquisition of ThinkSmart Software (“ThinkSmart”), an independent software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) provider delivering an innovative technology for businesses that offer clubs and classes in the UK and Australia as well as other global markets. This strategic acquisition will be integrated as part of ClearCourse’s growing Business Services division. Founded in 2008, ThinkSmart is a scheduling and customer management platform for businesses that conduct classes and take bookings. Today, ThinkSmart serves approximately 2,500 customers predominately within the children’s activities sector, offering a user-friendly, intuitive product which helps “class-based” businesses with managing all day-to-day administration. Its award-winning software helps clients across the tennis, swimming, gymnastics, dance, music and sports sectors automate processes so that they can spend more time managing their business and working with their customers. ThinkSmart’s innovative technology streamlines several business admin tasks, including class scheduling, customer management and communications as well as invoicing and payments systems. Christina Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce ThinkSmart as the latest software business to join our group. We look forward to welcoming the ThinkSmart team, led by founder Andy Leigh and UK Managing Director George Bentley, and working with them to enhance their offering across the growing, class-led activities sector. This investment is a further milestone in the growth of ClearCourse which continues to expand in the UK market as well as internationally.” Andrew (Andy) Leigh, Founder and Managing Director of ThinkSmart, commented: “In ClearCourse we have found a likeminded, customer-focused partner that will support a new phase of growth for ThinkSmart. As part of ClearCourse, we will be focused on continuously improving the industry-specific software solutions we offer our customers across the world, as well as looking for opportunities to expand our services.” George Bentley, UK Managing Director said: “ClearCourse has built a unique and compelling group of software companies and payments capabilities, and we are excited to continue growing our business supported by the rich experience and infrastructure now available to us. In particular, working with ClearCourse will enable us to offer our UK growing customer base market-leading, embedded Direct Debit and card payment solutions which will make accepting and managing payments quicker and easier.” Established in London in 2018, ClearCourse is a leading software and embedded payment specialist servicing SMEs and targeted enterprise customers. The group’s vertical software solutions provide essential, market-leading technology to help their customers manage and grow their businesses. Since inception, the company has undergone rapid growth by acquiring 40 leading software and payments solutions in the market verticals in which it operates: Retail & Hospitality, Golf & Leisure, Business Services and Membership Services. Christina Hamilton added: “ClearCourse is a growth company with a clear ambition to help our customers build great businesses with our industry-specific software and embedded payments solutions. We acquire small- and medium-sized businesses and integrate them into the ClearCourse group of companies to benefit their growth and development, while delivering the same for our customers with their own growth aspirations. Our acquisition of ThinkSmart is our first investment in 2024 and marks a successful start to what we expect to be a year of continued growth for ClearCourse.” The terms of the deal are undisclosed.
Nathan Best ClearCourse Chief Operating Officer
04 Jul, 2023
ClearCourse, a leading provider of industry-specific software and payments for UK SMEs, announces the appointment of FinTech veteran Nathan Best as Chief Operating Officer.
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