Project
Summary
Merger project completed mid-September 2024.
Project:
Eastside People were hired during January 2024 to support the merger due diligence
Project duration:
The merger due diligence process began in January 2024, and by April 2024, the boards had made a dynamic decision to proceed. The formal agreement was signed in August 2024.
Eastside People team members involved: Cara Evans Head of Partnerships and Mergers
Outcome: The Mix and MHI began merger implementation in August 2024 and are now working as one organisation under two different brands.
Background
Mental Health Innovations (MHI) is a charity delivering scalable, innovative, digital services and insights to transform the mental health of the nation. It was founded in 2017 with the support of the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales.
Digital charity for under 25s, The Mix offers free, confidential support, expert advice and a welcoming community with and for young people including on mental health, relationships, work and money. Young people can get one-to-one support from counsellors, join live Support Groups, talk on Community Boards, and connect with peers,
MHI had always had an ambition to expand the reach of mental health support through digital products and services and had been working in partnership with The Mix in 2018, around their digital offer. With an eye on the future, The Mix was looking to increase its capacity around clinical support, data analytics and technology development.
MHI specialised in mental health data insights and The Mix delivered confidential support for under-25s online and via phone and social channels. Both organisations had built strong digital platforms that supported young people through mental health challenges. But they saw a bigger opportunity: to amplify their collective voice, to create seamless pathways between services, and to provide a clean offer to young people who are accessing mental health support through their digital platforms.
“We realised we were competing for the same funding, even though we were trying to solve the same problems,” Victoria Hornby CEO of MHI explained. “It made sense to join forces—not just to be more efficient, but to be more impactful.”
The vision was clear: a lifecycle of support where young people could move from receiving help to giving it, through volunteering, peer support, and advisory roles.
“It was clear that a new service was required to respond to the scale of the need around young people’s mental health,” said Chris Martin CEO of The Mix at the time, and now CEO of MQ Mental Health Research. “Our shared history meant we were well placed to understand how we could bring our services together for greater impact and to take better advantage of the opportunities offered by new technologies to achieve this.”
By mid-2023, merger discussions were underway. Both boards were in agreement that merger was the way forward, but they needed to secure funding. So, they reached out to all their funders to see if they could support the next stage of their journey. A number of funders agreed to support both organisations through the merger and beyond.
“My experience merging YouthNet and Get Connected in 2016 had shown how important it was to engage funders early,” said Chris. “Both Tor and I saw this as critical to ensure we had the resources we needed both to complete the merger and to deliver on our ambition.”
Eastside People were brought in in January 2024 to provide support with the due diligence, prior to that Cara Evans, Head of Partnerships and Mergers met with the Youth Advisory Board to explain the merger process. Having previously been COO at The Mix Cara knew their board well and was really pleased to see such engagement from both boards at this key stage.
“They helped us see things we hadn’t considered,” said Tor. “It wasn’t just about merging operations—it was about merging cultures, values, and responsibilities.”
The due diligence process began in earnest January following Eastside people’s nine step due diligence process, please see more details here Good Merger Guide 6 of 7: How to do charity merger due diligence
After both boards had reviewed the due diligence report they both agreed to the merger in April 2024. The formal agreement was signed in August 2024, and the merger was finalised in September 2024.
