NPS acquires service design agency Snook

Northgate Public Services (NPS), a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, has announced the acquisition of Snook, a service design agency that specialises in redesigning public and private services to better meet users’ needs. The deal will combine the two organisations’ ambitions to transform public services and improve outcomes for citizens.

The acquisition comes at a time when the government is focused on taking a more collaborative and agile approach to develop services for people*, with the aim of ensuring any new services are designed around the needs of the individuals that use them rather than technology or the process itself.

Stephen Callaghan, CEO, Northgate Public Services said: “Snook’s reputation for designing products and services that are more accessible, relevant and focused on people’s needs is unrivalled in the public sector. Combine this with our focus on putting critical information into the hands of people where and when they need it, and the result will be technology solutions that achieve the delicate balance of both meeting the public sector’s needs and the public it serves.”

Sarah Drummond, co-founder and managing director of Snook, said, “In NPS, we have found a company that matches our drive, and ambition, and one with the resources to fuel our growth. Our research and knowledge of service design will be united with NPS’s open software and capability to deliver. Together we will be able to increase the pace of change in the public sector and ensure products and services work and are accessible for the people who use them.”

NPS has helped to screen more than 10 million babies for hearing loss, provided 50% of police forces in the UK with vital frontline information and supported 150 social housing providers to deliver efficient services to tenants across the globe.

Snook created the UK’s first online police feedback platform, MyPolice, supported the government’s Policy Lab division to improve the rental experience for landlords and tenants and has helped CycleHack with an award-winning initiative to overcome the barriers to cycling in 50 global cities.

Snook will continue to operate under its current brand and management team. The operational team will remain based in Glasgow and London and will expand over the next 12 months to accommodate their aspirations to develop more accessible and inclusive services for the general public. As well as managing their own projects, the team at Snook will help develop NPS’s capabilities in user centred design and provide input on product development within NPS.