Start-up focused media agency Communications Partners secures six-figure investment
Ex-Zenith general manager Roy Jeans and Accelerator Academy’s Ian Merricks back launch of new agency based out of Borough high street
Communication Partners (CPUK), a media planning agency targeting start-ups, has launched this week having received a six-figure investment from high-profile angel investors Roy Jeans and Ian Merricks.
Merricks, partner of venture fund White Horse Capital and founder of the Accelerator Academy, has taken a position on the company’s board as investor director while Jeans, CEO of Grey Scorpion and former general manager of Zenith Optimedia, has been appointed chairman.
Based close to London Bridge and with more than £1m ploughed into the venture so far, the agency intends to fill a “recognisable gap in the […] current media planning and buying landscape”.
It will focus on businesses in need of hands-on media advice, as well as recently-funded start-ups which may be relatively new to the advertising market.
Among the agency’s first clients are AIM-listed cloud computing business Outsourcery, founded by former Dragons’ Den star Piers Linney, and the Malaysian government.
Joining the investors as commercial director is Rachel Hall, who worked with Jeans at Zenith.
Jeans said of the launch: “Having spoken to many advertisers over the past few months, we have identified a genuine need for an agency that can provide this personal, mature service. In many areas the consumer is moving faster than the advertisers trying to reach them – our challenge is to solve this.”
CPUK’s investment director, Merricks, added: “We are delighted to be part of CPUK, co-investing with Grey Scorpion.
“Having worked with hundreds of early stage businesses over the last three years, we see a real need for greater media expertise to be applied to their marketing plans, and believe CPUK is uniquely placed to deliver this advertising know-how to high growth UK start-ups and scale-ups”.
