News & Press

Connectpoint and The Chase unite in 'World Class' deal

3rd April 2006

One of the UK’s most successful design consultancies, The Chase, is to become part of Hasgrove, the new parent company of Connectpoint as part of its strategy to build an international and unrivalled communications business.

The Chase is one of a handful of design consultancies to have had its work accepted in D&AD every year since it was created 20 years ago.  D&AD is universally acknowledged as the international gold standard for creative excellence.

The Chase is currently ranked 2nd overall in Design Week’s creative league table and is number one in the Design for Print category.

The company generated fees of over £3m on turnover of £7m last year and employs more than 40 people at offices in Manchester, London and Preston; clients include M&S Money, Diageo, Fujitsu, Yorkshire Water, the BBC and the Co-operative Bank Corporate Affairs.

The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, is the fourth and largest in just over 12 months for Hasgove after acquiring businesses in the disciplines of PR, broadcast and direct marketing to add to Connectpoint’s existing integrated communications offering.

The Chase will retain its identity and sit alongside the Connectpoint branded companies, in line with Hasgrove’s strategy to build an international group of companies with strong brands in their own disciplines.

It is intended to build and develop The Chase brand further and founder Ben Casey will join the board working alongside Connectpoint Chief Executive Nick Bradshaw. The creation of a new board anticipates further acquisitions by Hasgrove.

Bradshaw said the deal was a significant stage in the group’s growth plans: “The Chase is a world class company, with a creative record that very few other design consultancies can touch.  Our combined businesses offer each other numerous benefits which we’re now busy exploiting.”

The agreement with The Chase was brokered by Connectpoint’s founder Steve Rodgers who comments: “The Chase is a natural component in the group’s long term growth plans – an outstanding business with a peerless creative reputation. We expect other deals of this nature to follow” he added.

A key benefit of the deal is that it provides a London presence for the combined business through The Chase’s W1 offices. The office will see investment and expansion in the near future to replicate the full range of marketing communications services available in Manchester.

 “The important thing for me is for The Chase to be at the centre of a growing and close-knit group of companies that believes in the power of creativity” says Casey. “The alternative, being a small part of a huge multinational in which we lost our identity would probably stifle the very thing that has made us successful.”