Swedish consulting group Eidra expands Dutch presence with Essense

Swedish consulting group Eidra has expanded its presence in the Dutch market with the acquisition of Essense, a 45-person customer experience consultancy firm.

Stockholm-headquartered Eidra is one of Northern Europe’s larger management and technology consulting groups, with over 1,200 consultants working across its different labels. Previously known as ARC (up until mid-2024), Eidra has offices in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US.

Having launched in the Netherlands in 2022 through the double acquisitions of Fabrique and Q42, Eidra has now closed its third bolt-on in the country. Amsterdam-based Essense adds 45 staff to its Dutch team, which now is around 250 strong across its three Dutch-origin labels, and Curamando and Eidra.Consulting (which expanded organically into the Netherlands from the Nordics).

Established in 2011, Essense is a consultancy specialised in customer experience, service design, data, journey management, customer-centric transformation, and technology.

“We have always admired Essense for their sharp vision and in-depth knowledge of customer experience. Their specialism in customer experience and journey management fits seamlessly with our existing consulting, design and tech capabilities. Together we can guide organizations even better in realizing exceptional customer experiences,” said Wietske Rodenhuis, CEO of Eidra in the Netherlands.

Mans Jacobsson Hosk, co-CEO of Eidra, added: “Together, we can position Eidra as the benchmark for creating greater and more impactful customer experiences and service organizations for our clients.”

In the Netherlands, Eidra operates with offices in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague.

“Joining Eidra makes a lot of strategic sense for Essense as the market is increasingly demanding capabilities in technology, data, AI and consulting to achieve tangible business impact with customer experience and journey management. We already see many opportunities to leverage Eidra’s capabilities for delivering even more value to our clients, from strategy to implementation”, noted Harald Lamberts, Founder of Essense.

Earlier this year, Eidra (which is backed by private equity) acquired creative digital agency Fröjd in Sweden, and last year, the group acquired Wipfli’s Product Studio in the United States.