PLMR buys Manchester's Social to build £12M communications group

What's the deal? Westminster-headquartered communications agency PLMRDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired Social Communications GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Manchester-based comms firm, for an undisclosed seven-figure sum. The deal creates an independent group with annual income of circa £12 million and 110 staff across Westminster, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Coventry, Ipswich and Glasgow.

What each side brings: PLMR offers public affairs and PR counsel near Parliament, with clients including Jet2Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Moderna and Booking.com. Social, founded by John Quinton-Barber in 2012, specialises in infrastructure, housing, placemaking and regeneration, with clients such as LovellDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, JLLDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Caddick DevelopmentsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.

Why now? The deal lands 10 weeks after Prime Minister Andy Burnham set out the biggest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation. Under the July 31 Cabinet statement, mayors will keep a share of locally raised income tax and business rates, and gain greater control over transport, technical education and employment support.

What's the endgame? As decisions on housing, transport and regeneration shift to mayors and city regions, the combined group gives clients senior counsel both in Westminster and in the regions where budgets are now spent. Social has worked with every established mayoral combined authority in the North.

What changes? Social will trade as "Social, part of the PLMR Group." Quinton-Barber continues to lead the business, has committed for at least four years, and joins the PLMR Group operational board. Both firms are certified B Corporations and feature in the PR Week Top 150.

The signal: The acquisition reflects how Britain's devolution agenda is reshaping where influence — and communications spending — is concentrated. As power moves north to combined authorities, agencies are positioning to counsel clients close to where decisions are made.

Read more: plmr.co.uk

Image credit: Richard Heyes