Dougal Paver, the MD of Liverpool’s Paver Smith, has been talking to How-Do about his plans to launch an assault on the established Manchester PR scene through the acquisition of Stripe Communications.
Paver Smith announced its buy out of Stripe yesterday for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition gives the ambitious agency a firm foothold in Manchester, while bringing Stripe founder, and former Harrison Cowley UK head of business development, Denise Mullen on board in a senior role.
It is, according to Paver, a sound platform for growth.
Home away from home
“Stripe is a boutique practice that has shown itself capable of attracting major client names,” he said of an agency that boasts Ikea on its client list.
“Denise is an outstanding saleswoman, with a fabulous track record in PR, and this gives her the resources of a larger team, while we get someone to run the Manchester office and really focus on growing the business there.”
Mullen will now become director of business development within the agency hierarchy and head up a new office in the Spinningfields area of the city.
“We’re in negotiations with a couple of landlords at the moment,” Paver said of the new office, adding: “We don’t want to be in some old ex-warehouse off Oldham Street.
“A lot of out clients will be based around Spinningfields and if we want to attract some of the best staff on the agency scene to come and join us, then we have to invest and show how serious we are about being in Manchester.”
Paver, it seems, is taking it very seriously.
He told How-Do that he wasn’t underestimating the quality of the established competition in the city – “there are a lot of fantastic agencies” – but stressed that the new team would be fighting hard to win business.
Paver: serious about Manchester
“Manchester is a key part of our growth strategy,” he said, “and we’re looking to follow that by targeting London with a new acquisition at the tail end of 2009, or the beginning of 2010.”
Getting back to the North West, news had reached How-Do previously that Paver may have been looking into buying other firms in the city – something he doesn’t try to deny.
“You’d be amazed if I told you some of the agencies that were up for sale in the city... amazed,” he claimed, before failing to spill the beans.
“We talked to a number of them, but we’re very happy to have eventually landed Stripe and Denise.”
The Manchester office, when opened, will initially have six members of staff and service some of Paver Smith’s current city based clients – including Grant Thornton, DLA Piper and Muse Developments – as well as tending to those on Stripe’s books, such as IKEA, Manchester Greyhound Stadium Belle Vue and the Walton Centre.
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