Financial communications specialist Pension Geeks has been bought out by sector giant Aegon 海角视频, providing a platform to build on a seven-year success story.
The niche services provider launched in Grimsby in 2014, with animator Jonathan Bland and marketeer Rachel Parkinson taking an idea forward after chatting about their own finances over the kitchen table.
Discussions with friends discovered many were at risk of 鈥渨alking into poverty in later life鈥 due to ignorance over vital planning, and so they begain with a phone and a PC.
It now becomes part of the Edinburgh-based group following an undisclosed deal, building on a three-year working relationship.
Co-founder and 鈥榟ead geek鈥 Jonathan Bland said: 鈥淭his represents a major milestone for the business and I鈥檓 thrilled that our future is with a partner that has been instrumental to our growth in recent years.
鈥淎egon鈥檚 commitment to helping customers achieve financial security is so aligned with our mission, so the cultural fit is absolutely perfect for us.
鈥淧art of our success comes from the bold and creative culture we鈥檝e established at Pension Geeks and with Aegon, we will continue to break the status quo with fresh and out of the box thinking when communicating financial topics.
鈥淗aving the investment, resource and backing from a huge global financial services provider just means we can do more of this fantastic work. We can help more people and service more clients 鈥 that鈥檚 what excites me. I can鈥檛 wait for the next chapter!鈥
From Louth, Lincolnshire, Jonathan studied under industry professionals from major studios like Disney and Pixar, while Rachel鈥檚 background was in marketing 鈥 engaging younger people at Grimsby Institute, where she worked for four years, living in Cleethorpes. Now engaged, the couple agreed there was an opportunity to bring fresh thinking, storytelling and a new perspective to the world of pensions communications.
Described as bringing 鈥渆nergy, enthusiasm and simplicity to topics which many people would rather avoid,鈥 Pension Geeks created Pension Awareness Day, a national opportunity to help thousands of people with their plans. It has ministerial backing, millions of engagements and has been used as a platform to push for certain reforms.
They have also been to more than 200 workplaces, delivering events from hometown giant Young鈥檚 Seafood to PepsiCo, and even Manchester City. The past year has also seen a studio created at the Europarc base to help broadcast online, with thousands of B&Q employees engaged with at a single session.
They also devised the first ever pensions and wellbeing digital platform for employers - housing dynamic webinars, a one-to-one chat facility, a Netflix-style video library and lots of other useful content to help employees get on board with their finances.
The couple, who up until now have worked with freelance support, will continue to lead Pension Geeks - remaining operationally independent with their own clients, - and will remain in Grimsby.
Rachel said: 鈥淲e are really going to ramp up the business here, in terms of local people and scale. We want to keep it in Grimsby, re-invest in the area, and Aegon is also keen to shout about it too. I鈥檓 really, really proud and they want to help us to promote the fact it is a local business, and help to bring inward investment into the area.鈥
Get business news direct to your inbox
There's no better time to stay up to date with economic and business news from your region. By signing up for our daily newsletters, email breaking news alerts and weekly round-ups from all the major sectors, you get our journalism direct by email. To sign up, find out more and see all of our newsletters, follow the link here
Mike Holliday-Williams, chief executive of Aegon 海角视频 - a business with three million customers and 2,000 staff - said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e been massive fans of the Pension Geeks work for a number of years and have seen first-hand how powerful and popular their communications and events are with people.
"Strategically, customer centricity is a significant focus for us and we鈥檝e invested heavily in member experience and personalised communications recently, so today鈥檚 acquisition further strengthens our capability in these areas.
鈥淲e鈥檙e keen they retain the independence that has made the business the success it is today and it will therefore operate separately to the main business but with the ability to draw on the investment and resource it needs to grow.
鈥淲e think there鈥檚 a lot we can learn from the work the Pension Geeks have done in recent years and ultimately believe our partnership will help improve our customers鈥 financial wellbeing.鈥
