Edinburgh design businesses join forces following takeover deal

Digital development specialist xDesign has acquired innovation and design outfit CreateFuture for an undisclosed sum with the two Edinburgh-based businesses joining forces.

Founded in 2016 by Jessica Mullen, Nathan Fulwood and Dave Ward, CreateFuture will relocate its team to xDesign’s headquarters located off the city’s Waterloo Place. As part of the deal, CreateFuture will continue to operate independently, however, both companies will collaborate to deliver digital expertise and products for a combined client roster which will comprise of household names including Penguin Random House, Adidas, Tesco Bank and Yorkshire Building Society.

Euan Andrews, founder and chief executive of xDesign, said: “We work in an ever-changing industry which is dictated by the demands and needs of consumers. As a result, 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 also share our vision for putting people at the very heart of everything they do.”

Mullen, CreateFuture’s managing director, added: “In joining xDesign, we recognise the huge opportunity we now have to amplify the expertise, culture and values we’ve nurtured over the last seven years to a much bigger audience of new and existing colleagues, clients and end-users. We’re joining xDesign at a really pivotal point in its growth journey, and are extremely excited to start seeing our ideas and work - in business, product and service design - brought to life through its end-to-end delivery proposition.”