Boosting customers and colleagues with ESG

ESG stretches way beyond box-ticking and is a real value driver. A panel of Inflexion portfolio companies discussed the benefits to their business at the third annual ESG Exchange.

The sticks of regulation may initially seem easier to spot than the carrots, but there is real value to be gained from linking profits with purpose.

Inflexion’s firm belief in ESG as a value drive is reflected in the fact that the ESG team sits within the value acceleration “We support our portfolio to actively manage risk and prepare for the evolving regulatory landscape whilst also helping them to identify opportunities,” says Jennie Galbraith, ESG Director at Inflexion.   

Boosting accessibility to gain market share
Peach's journey from delivering TV commercials via hardcopy reels to leading the charge in accessible advertising illustrates its dedication to efficiency, inclusivity, and innovation. Its efforts are not only enhancing revenues but also setting new standards for the industry.

Winning new clients
ESG wasn't core to the strategy of medical device and pharma contract manufacturer SteriPack five years ago, but its importance quickly grew. Passion drove conversations which ultimately led to a manifesto and strategy.

Supporting clients’ green energy transitions
Radius is helping its partners on their energy transition with its range of electric vehicles, charge points and energy solutions.

Attracting and retaining staff
Prioritising people through robust D&I efforts has produced real results at ANS Group.

Peach: Boosting accessibility to gain market share

Access services are crucial features that enable people with disabilities to participate in media consumption, including advertisements. These services, such as captioning, audio description, sign interpretation, and accessible transcripts, make media more inclusive for individuals with vision or hearing impairments. However, advertisers historically only made ads inclusive if there was sufficient time in the production cycle, resulting in a mere 5% of ads being inclusive – despite over 15% of the UK population having difficulty in accessing or understanding adverts.

Recognising this gap, Peach, a video advertising distribution workflow software provider backed by Inflexion, ventured with another company to integrate accessibility into the workflow. “It’s now a tick-box and super easy,” explains Shelby Akosa, VP of Managed Service at Peach. “We’ve removed the barriers for the creative industry and simplified it with efficiencies.” This integration has not only made the process simpler but also resulted in a 15% revenue uplift on each upsell.

A major client decided to make all of its advertising accessible in France, a country where accessible advertising was previously non-existent. Peach's existing playbook made the rollout in France straightforward, and utilising linguists instead of automated services ensured accuracy and quality.

Peach's passion for accessibility has led to direct collaboration with ISBA, a body that represents brand owners advertising in the UK. Together they’ve formed a working group that includes ITV, Channel 4 and other industry experts. “We hope for accessible advertising to become a mandate in time,” says Shelby. The initiative is gaining momentum, with the percentage of clients opting for subtitled ads increasing from 25% to 40% since the end of 2023. Shelby is optimistic: “Once we hit 50%, customers will need to opt out rather than opt in.”

The adoption of accessible advertising varies around the world. In Canada, it’s mandatory, while in the US, it’s available but not required everywhere. “Globally, it’s a challenge – not all countries can broadcast accessible advertising,” Shelby notes. Peach is also leveraging AI solutions and creative analytics to provide customers with valuable insights. “It’s crucial to ensure our visual content reflects the diverse range of individuals that make up our communities. It’s not just the right thing to do but has a significant impact on the success of our clients’ marketing efforts,” Shelby concludes.

SteriPack: Winning new clients

"Involving the sales team in our ESG mission was crucial," explains Paul Cohen, Senior Mechanical Engineer of SteriPack, which received funding from Inflexion in 2022. "We needed to ensure we could sell what we created, addressing both regulatory requirements and client desires."

Today SteriPack empowers sustainable transformation through its Design & Product Development Sustainability Lab, which offers expertise and guidance to clients, helping them achieve their own sustainability goals in the medical device and pharmaceutical space.

This has strengthened existing client relationships, such as with an Icelandic company creating bionic limbs. Impressed by SteriPack’s sustainability push, they collaborated on a lifecycle assessment to reduce their carbon footprint.

The ESG focus also helped win new clients. A B2B medical device maker seeking to redesign its packaging was drawn to SteriPack’s sustainable materials and systems, which they felt demonstrated its technical expertise and commitment to sustainability.

"ESG is now a major part of our business," says Paul. "It even attracts talent; candidates mention our ESG efforts during interviews."

Challenges remain, but Paul emphasises that feedback and iteration are as important in refining packaging design as well as ESG strategies. "You don’t fail and give up; you keep adapting."

Radius: Supporting clients’ green energy transitions

Radius is about making life easier for SMEs as they manage their fleets, with owners ambitious but often time-poor.

The firm received £150m in minority funding from Inflexion Partnership Capital in 2017, supporting over two dozen acquisitions in five countries to expand Radius into new verticals and geographies. These were more about building firm foundations in new areas through capability and people rather than building scale, and laid the groundwork for Radius’s EV focus.

While EV is just one of six business units, it’s been a crucial part of the firm’s diversification strategy to ensure customers looking to their own energy transition would stay with Radius.

The firm learned about the market through a 50% investment in a Dutch business, and started building out to provide hardware, installation and maintenance services, a software platform, and charging cards. The firm grew its EV and energy division through acquisitions, with a preference for smaller businesses to enable Radius to mould and build them to it fit with the long-term strategic vision.

The EV and Energy part of Radius may be the newest and currently the smallest, but Sarah Clayton, Group General Counsel at Radius, maintains it is one of the primary business units at Radius. “We’re investing for our clients’ futures.”

The green energy transition will take longer than some may like, but Radius is well placed to help its clients on their journeys. You can read more about Radius’s EV journey here.

ANS Group: Attracting and retaining staff

“We’ve seen huge benefits from our D&I focus,” Toria Walters, Chief People Officer at

ANS Group enthused.

The digital technology services business has been growing with Inflexion backing, seeing increased revenue growth and greater market share supported with the acquisition of Preact in 2022.  

Toria estimates ANS has saved c. £80k on recruitment to date this year given the firm’s impressive creation and successful delivery of their D&I strategy over the last two years. And it’s helped with retention, with ANS’s 10% turnover rate comparing very favourably to the tech industry’s c. 25% average. “It’s because people know we’re doing something special, creating an environment where people can be their true selves which they want to be part of,” she says.

Each Inflexion investment, regardless of size or stake, has full access to Inflexion’s value acceleration support which includes ESG strategy, international expansion, M&A, digital enhancement, talent management, and commercial effectiveness.

Inflexion’s ESG toolkit provides the portfolio with a suite of support to help them progress through the levels of Inflexion’s ESG Framework and drive value. It's designed to upskill the portfolio on relevant ESG topics, share best practice, and enhance collaborative opportunities. ​