An Aberdeen public relations firm has joined forces with a rival from the central belt.
Bread Public Relations has been snapped up by 3X1, although the terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Louise Nicolson, who founded the Aberdeen firm in 2009, joins the board of 3X1 which has offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London with “immediate effect”.
In a statement, the firms said it would be “business as usual” for Bread, which would retain its brand in the north-east where it acts for clients including oil firm Statoil, safety body Step Change, law firm Ledingham Chalmers, and CHC Helicopter.
Bread currently employs 10 people.
Ms Nicolson said: “The Bread team has worked hard over the past six years to build something special and we’re exceptionally proud to join this dynamic group. We look forward to pooling our talents to deliver the very best for our clients.”
Cameron Grant, co-founder of 3×1 said the enlarged group will now increase to 30 employees, with a turnover approaching £3million. He added that the firm’s combined income, which excludes client payments for purchases the agency makes on their behalf, was “on course to exceed £2million in 2015 for the first time since the business was founded in 2001”.
3X1, whose clients include the likes of Diageo, Orion Group and Marischal Square developer Muse Developments, has been considering a further push into the north-east market.
Mr Grant said: “We’ve been looking closely at the Aberdeen market for the last few years and having worked informally with Bread for some time we believe this is a good time to formalise our arrangement as they are best-in-class in the north-east.”
He added that he expected to grow the business next year and would consider buying up other firms.
“2016 should see further income generation due to both organic and fee growth as a result of the integration of the new services and divisions. Further acquisitions are also being considered to further enhance 3×1 Group’s footprint,” he added.
The firm also launched a digital business, Parlez Digital to offer social media and strategic content management services.