The new owner of a social media agency co-founded by Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett made almost 30% of its employees redundant following its acquisition.
Digital advertising and technology services company Brave Bison snapped up Social Chain in February in a deal worth at least £7.7m.
Social Chain was set up in Manchester alongside Dominic McGregor in 2014 and works with brands such as Amazon, TikTok, KFC and Apple Beats to create social media advertising campaigns and perform influencer marketing services.
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At the time of the acquisition, the company had a total headcount of 122 staff based at offices in Manchester, New York and London.
However, in Brave Bison's half-year accounts filed with the London Stock Exchange, it has been revealed that it cut Social Chain's headcount by 28% since the acquisition was completed. It added that the move would save the company around £1m.
During Brave Bison's half year, Social Chain contributed £3.6m in revenue and made a £100,000 loss between its acquisition and today (September 13).
For the six months to June 30, 2023, Brave Bison increased its revenue by 15% to £16.9m while it slipped from a pre-tax profit of £1m to a loss of £200,000.
Brave Bison said its losses were due to incurring £1.4m in exceptional costs associated with the acquisition and integration of Social Chain and £4.8m share placing in February.
Executive chairman Oliver Green said: "We are pleased to report a period of stable profitability despite a difficult macro-economic backdrop.
"The core Brave Bison business has performed in-line with our expectations, and the turnaround of Social Chain is showing encouraging progress with a number of recent customer wins including national brands such as Asda, The Army and Holland & Barrett."
He added: "The board believes that Social Chain, which was loss-making at the time of acquisition, has the potential to become one of Brave Bison's strongest brands.
"The business has been comprehensively restructured, including property disposals, back office and systems integration with Brave Bison and a reduction in headcount of 28%, which is expected to result in an adjusted EBITDA Social Chain profit for the current financial year.
"Turnarounds always present challenges, but we are encouraged with progress made to date.
"The integration of systems, operations and ways of working with Brave Bison has happened quickly, and resource is now being shared across the company.
"Furthermore, Social Chain by Brave Bison has been on an impressive new business drive, winning in excess of £2m in annualised revenue, to be delivered over this and the next financial year, from brands including Holland & Barrett, The Army, Pinterest and Aer Lingus.
"Social Chain's work for The Army will be supported by additional work from our Brave Bison Performance business unit, demonstrating clients' demand for a connected social and performance marketing proposition and providing us with a strong case study to win additional customers in this space.
