Bechtle revs up UK expansion with DriveWorks acquisition

The deal fuels Bechtle’s growth in the UK market, with 430 staff across six sites in the country

Bechtle is moving full speed ahead with its UK expansion as it announces its second British deal in a month.

The German IT services provider has acquired UK-based software developer DriveWorks to shift gears with its international market position around the SOLIDWORKS ecosystem.

Earlier this month, Bechtle received the green light to acquire the UK’s Qolcom to put the company in the fast lane in the network-as-a-service space.

DriveWorks employs 59 staff and cruised towards revenues of €6.5m in the 2023/24 fiscal year.

Merging lanes with DriveWorks grows Bechtle’s UK headcount to 430 across six sites in the country.

DriveWorks founders Maria Sarkar and Glen Smith will remain with the company, with commercial director Mark Sarkar and chief technology officer Philip Stears taking the driver’s seat as their successors.

“I am particularly pleased with this acquisition as I’ve been a fan of DriveWorks’ fantastic quality for years,” said Uwe Burk, executive vice president PLM | engineering & manufacturing at Bechtle.

“For our customers, automating design and custom configurations are key to boosting efficiency and establishing new business models.

“DriveWorks has developed an outstanding application that will be hugely important in the future and stands for a great addition to the Bechtle portfolio.”

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Who is DriveWorks?

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Thelwall near Manchester, DriveWorks’ software is used globally to help steer SOLIDWORKS and automate the design of 3D CAD models.

DriveWorks will continue to operate as an independent company, exclusively serving SOLIDWORKS resellers in 54 countries.

It also operates two subsidiaries in Australia and the US, both of which will be retained, together with employees in France and India.

DriveWorks software offers web-based product configuration and design automation for manufacturing companies in the B2B and B2C markets.

It enables users to unlock efficiencies, helping to compensate for the shortage of skilled workers by leveraging pre-defined rules and baseline designs to automate the configuration of custom product models of varying complexity.

“We are thrilled to be part of Bechtle. We share the same drive, passion, and commitment to delivering exceptional technology to manufacturers worldwide, while valuing the people who make it all possible,” said Sarkar.

“The demand for design automation, 3D visualisation, product configuration, and CPQ solutions is growing rapidly. Together with Bechtle, we will extend the benefits of DriveWorks technology to further support our customers’ success.”