Harbour Announces the Launch of a New Agency Group with 2 Initial Cornerstone Acquisitions

Harbour, the agency collective, has today announced the launch of a new company, Harbour Group, as it seeks to accelerate growth and drive value for clients. 

Harbour is launching the new company in partnership with Curious, the London based creative services business, and Flourish, the Bristol based specialist CRM agency, both of which are members of the Harbour Collective. Harbour Group has acquired Curious and Flourish as well as the management structure and assets of Harbour Collective. 

The move represents the first step in the creation of a new marketing services agency group which will see further acquisitions from within and outside the Collective. 

Shareholders and the management in Curious and Flourish will take significant equity in Harbour Group, in a move which will create shared ownership of the group, and positions on both the new company’s board and its management committee. 

Paul Hammersley, founder of Harbour Collective, will become the CEO of Harbour Group. He will be joined by Hugo Varney as group CFO, who comes from both an investment banking and agency management background and has played a key role in developing the Harbour Group plan with the owners and managers of Harbour, Curious and Flourish. 

Financial backing for the deal has been provided by investment manager Beach Point Capital. 

Paul 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; our strategy, structure and financial backing will enable us to achieve that. We are very grateful for Beach Point’s support and vision in providing that financial backing.” 

The Harbour Collective will continue in its current form, with the agencies now part of Harbour Group working in partnership with agencies in the wider collective. All agencies will also continue to work with third party agencies as appropriate. 

Harbour was advised by Clearwater International, CubedVision and Lennon Legal. 

Ian Reeves, managing director of Flourish, 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.” 

Mark Grosvenor, managing director of Curious said, “Joining the Harbour Group will add weight to our existing client offering whilst allowing us to retain our autonomy and wider industry relationships.” 

Shane Lanigan, portfolio manager of Beach Point Capital said, “We are very pleased to be entering this partnership and look forward to supporting Harbour’s ambitious vison for growth in the coming years and bringing more high-quality agencies into the group.”