Clinical speech services and software company joins Clanwilliam Group

Clinical speech services and software company Dictate IT has become part of the Clanwilliam Group.

The company  provides digital dictation, outsourced transcription, and speech recognition services to healthcare providers across the UK and Ireland.

In May this year, the firm launched what it described as a “next-generation” automatic speech recognition engine for primary care practitioners in the UK.

Called Dictate IT Live, the platform uses a combination of deep learning and neural networks to convert speech into text in real-time, without the need to first voice profile.

Dictate IT will become the 18th company to be supported by health tech investor the Clanwilliam Group.

It is hoped the move will allow Dictate IT to expand its reach and be able to work with the other 17 companies in the group.

Managing director, Mark Miller, said: “Being part of a bigger group will give us the ability to increase the investment we have been making in reaching new customers and improving the type and quality of solutions that we offer.

“Joining the Clanwilliam Group will also give us a fantastic opportunity to work with compatible businesses, and to form strong and supportive partnerships that will benefit healthcare organisations, their staff and patients.”

Based in Dublin, the Clanwilliam Group launched its mergers and acquisitions strategy in 2014.

The NHS has been a particular focus for activity this year with both Obsidian Healthcare Group and Informatica Systems joining in 2018.

Chief executive Howard Beggs said: “Our approach is to find companies that fit with our ethos and vision, which is to be innovative, caring and committed to making sure that healthcare professionals, patients and their families benefit from the work we do.

“Dictate IT is an excellent fit with that ethos and it will add real and tangible value from its expert knowledge, customer base and market-leading products.

“We have done a lot of work to develop the NHS division this year, and next year we will be looking to make the most of the synergies between the companies in it. Dictate IT will be a significant component of that strategy.”