Happy e-days following Palatine Impact investment

Palatine Impact has completed a significant investment into e-days, the rapidly growing provider of employee absentee management software.

This is the second deal from Palatine Private Equity’s Impact Fund, a £100m investment vehicle targeting growth companies that also deliver a positive social and/or environmental impact. It also marks the third successful deal completion in the Midlands, following the opening of Palatine’s Birmingham office in December 2015.

Formed in 2005, e-days is an employee absence management tool designed to help customer organisations improve operational efficiency and reduce absenteeism. Provided through a software as a service (SaaS) model, the tool accurately manages, processes and tracks employee leave and sickness, providing absence analytics to help managers deliver efficiency gains across their organisation. The company has more than 175,000 users and has customers in over 80 countries.

It is estimated that 131 million days are lost to sickness absence in the UK per annum, costing the economy c. £17bn. The CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) estimates that c.50% of organisations are currently in a position where employee holiday and absence is not calculated or managed effectively meaning the opportunity for specialist solutions such as e-days is significant.

The deal was led by partner and Head of the Impact Fund Beth Houghton and investment director James Gregson, with support from investment manager Tom Hustler. Both Houghton and Gregson will join the e-days board as the business looks to develop its employee wellbeing offering.

Steve Arnold, CEO at e-days, said: “The Palatine Impact Fund is the perfect investment partner for our fast-growing business, given the focus on positive social impact. The e-days solution has wide market appeal and already helps over 1,000 companies to better manage and track their employee leave and wellbeing. The Palatine investment will help us accelerate our market penetration, whilst continuing to enhance the product offering for the benefit of our customers and their employees.”