Paver, it has to be said, loves it when a plan comes together.

Less than three months ago the ebullient (at least today) Scouser sat down with How-Do to outline his growth strategy for the year ahead.

At the time he predicted that, by year-end, his agency would have a payroll of 31 (up from 26) and a turnover of £2.1m.

Now, with the imminent purchase of Jon Brown’s Factory Communications on the horizon, these lofty targets are well within reach and Paver, ever the ambitious one, has set himself some new goals.

“This business has to have scale,” he stresses, “if we want to attract the best people and the best clients we have to be looking at a headcount of 60, 70 or 80 and that’s what we’re working towards.

“That’s why we looking at more acquisitions.

Bigger agency, more clients

Whoa there Dougal, slow down now…

Before we get into the realms of future deals, let’s consider today’s bombshell – the news that Paver Smith is gobbling up Factory.

In a move that will no doubt come as a surprise to many industry observers, Factory will cease to exist as a standalone entity on 26th May.

At this point Jon Brown, and his wife and fellow director Jane Wolstenholme, will become Paver Smith staffers – “part of the management board,” Paver states, but with a day to day account director responsibility.

The rest of Factory’s staff will be subsumed into the larger PS team, relocating to their Old Hall Street offices and bringing the total headcount to 32, edging over and above our interviewee’s previous year end prediction.

Turnover, he claims, will then weigh in at £2.4m for the current financial period - roughly a two-fold increase on the previous term.

However, the real story behind the acquisition isn’t the numbers, Paver strives to inculcate, it’s the culture, the people and, at the end of the day, the business that’s important.

“We didn’t approach Factory, they approached us,” he reveals, “and talks have been ongoing for the past six or seven weeks.

“From the outset we could see that it was a great business and would offer a super deal for us.

“They have terrific management in Jon and Jane – with contact books to die for – and a solid team behind them with real journalistic experience. When you mix that in with our team, who tend to have backgrounds in marketing and PR, you come up with a strong blend.

Wolstenholme

Paver refused to disclose how much money was changing hands in the acquisition, stating only that it was “enough money to focus the mind.”

On the subject of further funding war chests he intimated that that wouldn’t be a problem and that money was “available.”

“It always is for good management teams with good propositions,” he explained. “If the credit crunch has had an effect on that it’s simply that the banks have stopped lending to muppets.”

Going forwards Paver concluded that he is looking at new acquisition targets that have the right “cultural fit” for the Liverpool-based agency.

That, he imparted, would allow for easier growth and a complimentary set of skills, people and clients.

Agency heads that are looking to have “a lot of fun” should probably get in touch with him.

The newly enlarged Paver Smith will have a roster of clients that includes Shell, Heathcotes, Grant Thornton, Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool, M&S Simply Food and law firm DLA Piper.

www.paversmith.co.uk

Did you enjoy this article? Please share it!

Comments (10)

3  By Rob Artisan , on 02-05-2008 14:10 Alistair,    the job of a paper is to report.    They are not their to big up.    If there are issues about the conduct of a local politician or a £68 million deficit in the council budget should the Echo not report it?    If you want more positive stories the council will need to perform better Report