Iridium joins Container Solutions to form 100-strong consultancy

Leeds tech consultancy Iridium has combined with London-based Container Solutions in a deal backed by private equity investor Growth Capital Partners (GCP), which announced it on 2 November 2026. The companies said the combined business will employ more than 100 people, bringing Iridium’s banking and payments work together with Container Solutions’ cloud engineering.

Iridium was co-founded in Leeds in 2018 by Sinclair Elliott and Ben Dainton and has offices in Leeds and Budapest. It is best known for complex migrations of cards, payments and core banking systems, many of them triggered by acquisitions, divestments and portfolio transfers. It also offers software engineering, cloud and data, quality assurance and cyber security services, and GCP puts its team at more than 70 specialists.

How the combination will work

Container Solutions, founded in 2014, is a cloud-native engineering consultancy headquartered in London with a presence in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. GCP has backed it since taking a minority stake in 2022.

GCP said the combined firm will offer clients one partner for technology change, from migration through to modern cloud engineering, with the scale to take on larger programmes and to introduce each business’s services to a wider client base. James O’Donovan, chief executive of Container Solutions, will lead the combined business and Sinclair will become chief commercial officer, the companies said.

Sinclair said: “Joining forces gives us increased platform & cloud engineering capability and scale to take on even bigger programmes, gives our people a bigger platform to grow on, and in GCP we have a partner that shares our ambition for the next chapter.”

James Handley, investment director at GCP, said: “We’re pleased to be the investor behind the combined Container Solutions and Iridium platform. The two businesses bring distinct but aligned expertise, and we look forward to supporting James, Sinclair and their team as they grow.”

“As one business, we will own more of the relationship with our customers and deliver a wider set of business outcomes with our talented team”

James O'Donovan, Chief Executive, Container Solutions

Advisers to Leeds tech consultancy Iridium

A Leeds team from Squire Patton Boggs advised Iridium’s shareholders, with KPMG providing corporate finance advice. Container Solutions’ shareholders were advised by Osborne Clarke, with further advice from Azets and Megabuyte.

The deal follows other recent moves linking Leeds and London technology consultancies. Salesforce specialist Art of Cloud doubled in size by buying London-based Silver Softworks in October, while AI consultancy Enablis opened a London office in August. For Leeds tech consultancy Iridium, the deal brings its co-founder into the leadership of a larger group serving banks and other financial services clients across the UK and Europe.

Sources: Growth Capital Partners announcement, 2 November 2026