The group has acquired London and Leeds-based search engine optimisation and digital marketing agency Branded3 Search for an initial £10.7m, £8.6m in cash and 1.4m in newly issued shares. However, additional performance related payments over the next three years could result in a further £14.3m being paid. The 50-staff business operates in B2B and B2C markets with clients including Ann Summers, BMW, Heinz, HSBC, McDonald’s, Microsoft, More Than, Orange, Sky and Vue Cinemas. In the year ending 31 January 2013 it generated sales of £4.1m and a EBITDA of £1.7m before one-off items. This latest deal matches the £25m St Ives spent on digital marketing agency Amaze in March and follows similar deals for companies such as marketing research and insight agency Incite in 2012 and retailer and consumer consultancy Pragma Holdings in 2011. In line with previous acquisitions, the business will operate as a subsidiary of St Ives from its existing locations and the founders of Branded3, chief executive Vin Chinnaraja and director of search Patrick Altoft, will continue to lead the business. St Ives chief executive Patrick Martell said the deal would add “significant depth” to its marketing services offering. “Our combination of insight led innovation and trusted execution across digital and physical media creates a unique integrated offering in the market, which this acquisition complements well,” he said in a statement. Chinnaraja added: “We have achieved another major milestone in our growth plans and becoming part of a synergistic, forward-thinking group where there is huge potential for collaboration is a real boost for us. I am really looking forward to working with the St Ives team to fulfil our ambitious plans.” Speaking to PrintWeek, Martell said that there were no plans to merge the various recently acquired marketing services businesses or create a single group identity. “There are some overlaps, but we absolutely haven’t bought these businesses to put them together for synergy benefits. We bought them because of what they are and what they do, we’ll invest in them, we’ll run them separately, but encourage them to collaborate where there are opportunities,” said Martell. “With all of the businesses that we’ve acquired the brand is with the division, not with St Ives. They’re all their own brands, they all have their own brand strengths. We’re buying businesses that are either leaders in their markets, or have the potential to be. All have the ‘scale’ which is attractive to us.” According to Martell, the company has looked at more than140 businesses since it embarked on its strategy to grow its marketing services operation. He added that further acquisitions could be on the horizon. “We’ve said that we wanted to get non print to 40% of our...

The company based in Nelson, Lancashire, scooped a three-year contract to supply Bolton Council and international aviation suppliers NetJets with their printed materials. The framework deal for Bolton will involve litho and digital work for promotional material for leisure and tourism activities such as Bolton Food Festival, said Cleaver. The contract is worth around £1.5m over six lots. The 35-year old company uses B2 five- and six-colour Roland presses and Océ digital equipment. It offers data-management services and full finishing including folding, laminating, stitching and wire binding. The 22-staff firm makes £2m turnover and clients include social-housing groups and private-sector names such as Hoseasons Group. The second contract, for 12 months, is for a safety news magazine for NetJets, which will go out five times a year in runs of around 2,000. Printoff will also handle occasional jobs for the client including calendars and return cards. “This is a busy and exciting time,” Cleaver said. “During late 2012 we made a decision to realign the business and integrated latest print technologies. Online proofing solutions and digital print underpin our core full colour print B2 capabilities.” Prior to taking up here role in January Cleaver was managing director of partner company Concept4, a digital and traditional marketing business, also based in Nelson, with clients in education, health, commercial and public sectors. She is now managing director of both companies and replaces Brian Hough who has left the firm....

The company based in Nelson, Lancashire, scooped a three-year contract to supply Bolton Council and international aviation suppliers NetJets with their printed materials. The framework deal for Bolton will involve litho and digital work for promotional material for leisure and tourism activities such as Bolton Food Festival, said Cleaver. The contract is worth around £1.5m over six lots. The 35-year old company uses B2 five- and six-colour Roland presses and Océ digital equipment. It offers data-management services and full finishing including folding, laminating, stitching and wire binding. The 22-staff firm makes £2m turnover and clients include social-housing groups and private-sector names such as Hoseasons Group. The second contract, for 12 months, is for a safety news magazine for NetJets, which will go out five times a year in runs of around 2,000. Printoff will also handle occasional jobs for the client including calendars and return cards. “This is a busy and exciting time,” Cleaver said. “During late 2012 we made a decision to realign the business and integrated latest print technologies. Online proofing solutions and digital print underpin our core full colour print B2 capabilities.” Prior to taking up here role in January Cleaver was managing director of partner company Concept4, a digital and traditional marketing business, also based in Nelson, with clients in education, health, commercial and public sectors. She is now managing director of both companies and replaces Brian Hough who has left the firm....

The South Africa-based bank chose the London-based company in a competitive tender and has charged BMC with completely overhauling document management based on a “next-generation” storage and archiving facility. This will be a huge job, said a spokesman for BMC, although the value of the contract was not disclosed. Standard Bank Group claims to be the largest African bank in assets and earnings, operating in 17 countries on the African continent and 13 countries outside Africa. Total assets are worth $203bn. BMC said with the remit of the bank growing, the contract would “be on a grand scale.” The new system will encompass the complete document life cycle; from physical management, capture of content, indexing, secure storage and easy retrieval, right through to secure destruction. BMC will provide an onsite librarian to manage the archive. It will also provide three on-site DTP operators to help produce presentation documents and look after digital assets. The service is due to be rolled out across the whole bank. BMC managing director Catherine Burke said: “We’ll be putting in place systems and processes, across the whole document life-cycle, which will be truly state-of-the-art, including presentation services and storage and archiving.” She added: “It’s a monster job and a big challenge, bringing together different service lines, which will involve a little bit of inspiration and no doubt perspiration. I can’t disclose its worth, but the deal makes Standard Bank one of our most significant customers. It’s a very important piece of business. “All organisations like ours use similar types of scanning and storage technology, although we will tailor elements to the client’s needs. It’s about combining the right software and hardware with the right people that have the right processes.” Standard Bank head of corporate services Ruth Hansen said: “The project is on a large scale, quality is at a premium, and it is essential new solutions don’t compromise continuity. We therefore needed a supplier to bring us bang up-to-date. “It must deliver against stringent industry compliance standards and best practices. BMC will ensure seamless implementation of new systems and transform our document management and DTP processes in terms of speed, accuracy and efficiency.” This is the latest in a series of high-profile, lucrative wins for BMC. Last October is signed a three-year contract for marketing print and warehouse services for pension firm Friends Life and a year ago it won a £10m document-management deal from insurer Hastings Direct. BMC, which was born out of AccessPlus and the former BPO arm of The Print Factory, was acquired by Office2office five years...

The South Africa-based bank chose the London-based company in a competitive tender and has charged BMC with completely overhauling document management based on a “next-generation” storage and archiving facility. This will be a huge job, said a spokesman for BMC, although the value of the contract was not disclosed. Standard Bank Group claims to be the largest African bank in assets and earnings, operating in 17 countries on the African continent and 13 countries outside Africa. Total assets are worth $203bn. BMC said with the remit of the bank growing, the contract would “be on a grand scale.” The new system will encompass the complete document life cycle; from physical management, capture of content, indexing, secure storage and easy retrieval, right through to secure destruction. BMC will provide an onsite librarian to manage the archive. It will also provide three on-site DTP operators to help produce presentation documents and look after digital assets. The service is due to be rolled out across the whole bank. BMC managing director Catherine Burke said: “We’ll be putting in place systems and processes, across the whole document life-cycle, which will be truly state-of-the-art, including presentation services and storage and archiving.” She added: “It’s a monster job and a big challenge, bringing together different service lines, which will involve a little bit of inspiration and no doubt perspiration. I can’t disclose its worth, but the deal makes Standard Bank one of our most significant customers. It’s a very important piece of business. “All organisations like ours use similar types of scanning and storage technology, although we will tailor elements to the client’s needs. It’s about combining the right software and hardware with the right people that have the right processes.” Standard Bank head of corporate services Ruth Hansen said: “The project is on a large scale, quality is at a premium, and it is essential new solutions don’t compromise continuity. We therefore needed a supplier to bring us bang up-to-date. “It must deliver against stringent industry compliance standards and best practices. BMC will ensure seamless implementation of new systems and transform our document management and DTP processes in terms of speed, accuracy and efficiency.” This is the latest in a series of high-profile, lucrative wins for BMC. Last October is signed a three-year contract for marketing print and warehouse services for pension firm Friends Life and a year ago it won a £10m document-management deal from insurer Hastings Direct. BMC, which was born out of AccessPlus and the former BPO arm of The Print Factory, was acquired by Office2office five years...