South Oxfordshire: Chalgrove-based River to expand digital capabilities after £3.1m funding

River, a fast-growing performance improvement and employee engagement agency, is to make a significant investment in its intelligent data and digital capabilities following a £3.1 million funding deal with Santander Corporate & Commercial.

Chalgrove-based River counts firms such as Vodafone, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Asda, Compass Group, Honda and BP as clients.

The funding will be used to support a number of growth-focused programmes and initiatives, including the development of app-based services for clients and the expansion of River’s intelligent data solutions. The increasing use of smartphones by the firm’s client base has created strong demand for apps, while the exploitation of corporate data to enhance business opportunities has quickly become a key specialism for the company.

River CEO Phil Dunk said: “River has developed a unique suite of solutions for our clients and we’re investing in developing new and enhanced services to help them further. The support from Santander is fundamental to our investment and growth plans and I’m delighted that the bank has become part of our team.”

Steve Bateman, relationship director, Santander Corporate & Commercial, said: “River has progressed extremely well and become a significant business, as evidenced by the calibre of its clients, and this funding will help the firm to grow its client base further as well as the solutions it can provide.

"River’s management team is impressive, having larger agency backgrounds with an excellent relationship focus, and we are delighted to be able to support them as the firm enters this new and exciting phase of growth.”