North West PR firm Influential has today announced the acquisition of a creative branding agency.
The business, which has offices in Manchester and Liverpool, has bought agency Young Bright and Grey for an undisclosed sum.
According to Influential, the firm will become part of the wider Influential Agency Group and retain the Young Bright and Grey brand.
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The combined company employs 27 people and will operate from two existing offices in Manchester and one in Liverpool, with the brand specialism sitting alongside the agency’s established service lines in PR, stakeholder communications and insight
Viv Griffith and James Summerscales, who founded Young Bright and Grey in 2020, are joining with the board of Influential and have taken an equity stake in the group.
Sara Wilde-McKeown, managing director of Influential, said: “We’ve been working with Young Bright and Grey as our preferred partner on creative and branding campaigns for over 12 months, and there’s an obvious affinity between us.
"We have experienced first-hand the quality and strategic vision they bring to their creative and visual work. It fits perfectly alongside our own insight-led approach.
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"Young Bright and Grey will give us a much deeper expertise in creative branding and digital marketing. The acquisition allows us as a group to provide an integrated service across all disciplines.”
James Summerscales, co-founder of Young Bright and Grey, added: "Having got to know Influential over the past 12 months, we understand how strong their current offering is and we’re all excited about the synergies of combining forces.
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"We set up Young, Bright and Grey to really challenge the marketplace across brand, creative and digital.
"By integrating with Influential's current communications and research teams it only adds to our ability to do this. Both Viv and I are relishing continuing the growth that Young, Bright and Grey has seen over the last year, and with our partnership already seeing a number of amazing client wins, it feels like we are off to a great start.”
During its first year of operation, Young, Bright and Grey delivered projects for a range of international tech, banking and fashion brands, along with healthcare and transport projects closer to home.
The existing teams at Influential are led by agency’s co-founders Chris Hulme, PR, and Karen Swan.
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Ms Wilde-McKeown said Influential Agency Group will take further steps to build the business by adding other specialist divisions with similar investments.
Along with the acquisition, the 2021 highlights for Influential include an extension of its brief for the business advisory group Grant Thornton LLP from the North and Midlands to cover all 海角视频 regions.