Flourish sets out ambition for growth as cornerstone of new agency group
Bristol-based CRM specialists Flourish have today joined forces with the creative services agency Curious and The Harbour Collective, in what is the first step in the development of a new marketing company – the Harbour Group.
The group will be led by Paul Hammersley. Previously founder of Harbour Collective, Hammersley will become the CEO of Harbour Group, with Hugo Varney taking on the role of CFO. Before forming Harbour, Hammersley was a chief executive of DDB and Cheil. He launched Harbour in 2017.
Hammersley said, “For some time we have been discussing with a number of our Collective member agencies how to more closely align their shared interests and create a more connected plan for future growth and value creation… central to those discussions has been our desire to allow for the continued autonomy of the agency Brands.”
Founded in 2004, Flourish built its reputation in CRM and Customer Journey marketing, working for clients such as Nissan, Twitch and ASOS. Today, the agency employs over 50 people and operates from offices in Bristol and Dubai.
Of Flourish’s three founders, Neil Hecquet and Rich Hartson will be departing the agency, whilst Keith Nichol will remain, taking a position on the Harbour Group board. Nichol said, “The last 20 years have been such an incredible personal experience. I couldn’t have hoped for better partners than Neil and Rich and both have been instrumental in Flourish’s success. The time has come to push on and this opportunity with Harbour enables us to add our strength to a wider group proposition.”
Ian Reeves, Flourish’s Managing Director, said “The Harbour Group vision is clear and offers our clients tangible value through vertically integrated and complimentary services. We’re excited to start the journey alongside Curious and believe their offering can help push the creative barriers of what can be achieved within CRM.”
For more information, please contact Aimee Blakemore, Marketing Manager at Flourish on 01173 117620 or [email protected].
About Flourish
Flourish, which has offices in Bristol and Dubai, is a CRM agency “specialising in the development and delivery of personalised data-driven experiences, direct communications and content”. Its clients include Nissan, Bet365 and Asos.
About Curious
Curious is a “tech-driven agency that provides design, artwork, photography, video, CGI, and content distribution services”, with clients that include Diageo, Specsavers and Patek Philippe.
About Harbour
Harbour Collective, described as a “standalone company which manages a membership base of a number of independent agencies”, includes Live & Breathe, Pretty Green, Thursday, Platform, Digital Natives, TCO, Just So and Mi Media.
We’re a specialist CRM agency, delivering data-driven customer journeys.
