The deal, for an undisclosed sum, sees Instil add cyber security consultancy to its offering, complementing its product development, cloud engineering, digital modernisation, and training expertise. At the same time, Vertical Structure’s clients will be able to avail of Instil’s broad range of services.

The acquisition of Vertical Structure supplements organic growth of 35% and represents a key part of Instil’s strategic objective to grow its business to £50 million annual turnover within five years.

Tara Simpson, CEO and founder of Instil said: “We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of Vertical Structure. Simon and Marc have grown a fantastic company that we’ve had the pleasure of partnering with for many years. Cyber security is a must-have for organisations around the world and, with this acquisition, we are now in a position to be able to deliver consultancy which meets that demand.”

Simon Whittaker, Co-Founder and CEO of Vertical Structure, said: “We are incredibly excited to become an integral part of the Instil team at a key juncture in their growth. This provides us with the means to cement future growth and opens our cyber security offering up to a much wider audience.”

Instil, which employs 130 people, helps technology brands transform, innovate and disrupt their markets with category-defining software products. Its services include product development, delivering next-generation software products; cloud engineering, developing well-architected modern cloud solutions; digital modernisation, rethinking business models; and training, accelerating engineering and delivery know-how in software teams.

Vertical Structure provides cyber security consultancy with a ‘human-first’ approach. It specialises in providing human-focused security and penetration testing services for web applications, cloud infrastructure and mobile applications.