London, England - Pembridge announced today that it is taking an equity stake in Barclay Stratton, a 28-strong independent PR consultancy with annual revenues of £2 million.
Barclay Stratton is owned and managed by its founders, Christopher Broadbent and Jenny Thomas, and has clients spanning a wide range of industry sectors including Yellow Pages, Nestle, Warner Holidays and, as of last week, Dolland and Aitchison. Pembridge has been appointed by Barclay Stratton to broker and advise on a number of acquisition deals as part of their growth strategy over the next couple of years.
Christopher Broadbent of Barclay Stratton said: "The most pleasing thing about working with Pembridge is that we have a partner whose view of business management and growth is as unconventional - possibly eccentric - as our own. On a practical front, they are there to enable us to grow exponentially, while our job is to grow organically."
Pembridge works with creative service firms and designs tailor-made programmes to enable them to achieve commercial success and maximum profitability. Through Pembridge's minority stake they are able to keep control of their own business, focus on staying at the forefront of creativity and, most importantly, to remain independent. Through Pembridge's depth and breadth of experience across the creative industry, it will be making acquisition recommendations to Barclay Stratton which fit its growth strategy and brand values. Pembridge will take a minority stake in Barclay Stratton in exchange for their advisory role and will increase their stake as they complete acquisition deals.
Chris McDowall of Pembridge said, "We work with independent companies which have a strong creative culture. It is no coincidence that these companies continue to seek to grow despite the current trends in this sector. Barclay Stratton has developed to become a company that leads creative business and thinking. It has a fundamental structure and infrastructure in place and Christopher Broadbent has the vision to drive this business forward. We will certainly see more creative service firms taking this route in the future."
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