Jonas Leisure: in it for the long haul

By Mike Henton, Chief Executive, Jonas Leisure

With the change of ownership of Transaction Services Group earlier this month, I had someone ask me recently if that was something Jonas Leisure was planning for any of the businesses under its umbrella.

My short answer? No.

It is, of course, tempting to sell high performing assets for a big payday. But it doesn’t fit with the way we do things at Jonas Leisure. We have big plans for our future and that of the industries we operate in.

Our investment approach to the businesses we buy is that they’re more than a simple financial investment.

Before we bring any new business under the Jonas Leisure umbrella, we spend time researching not only how we might grow the value of the business, but how the business might add value to our existing offerings, to our clients and to the industries we operate in.

This kind of value-adding isn’t a quick fix. It requires a long-term investment approach based on enduring solutions, rather than short-term fixes.

We’re lucky enough to be able to do this through the support of our parent company, Constellation Software (CSI) – a world leader in vertical market, mission critical software, with a current market capitalisation of more than $26 billion.

Jonas Leisure is one of more than 300 companies owned by CSI and the opportunities this affords us are second to none. CSI’s structure and performance provides a solid financial foundation, as well as significant expertise in the technology sector, to support our growth well into the future.

Of course, there are still risks. As with any investment, there are likely to be highs and lows. You need to be prepared to ride out both.

Our approach also means operating with an eye to the future. We have to continually anticipate what changes in demographics, technology and customer expectations might mean for our clients and for the industry, and then set our businesses up to not only cater to these changes, but to make the most of them.

However, perhaps the most important consideration is what our investment approach means for our clients. Stability. Consistency in service. Continuous improvement. Long-term relationships.

As the market leader, and with eight brands under our umbrella, we have a unique offering over and above other providers; we provide our customers with choice. Choice to find a platform that meets their needs, choice to expand their operations, and choice to find new and innovative ways to interact with their clientele and much more.

That’s something we’re happy to stand behind.

Simply, what it comes down to is we’re in it for the long haul. We’re proud of the history we have – in our industry, with our businesses and our clients – and committed to continuing to build on that.