Harrison Cowley and Trimedia join forces

Ian Hall 10-Jan-07

Huntsworth plc has merged its Harrison Cowley and Trimedia UK PR agency brands to create Trimedia Harrison Cowley (THC).

The merger creates a combined company with annual revenues of more than £11m and 147 consultants.

Harrison Cowley CEO Paul Kelly retains his title, HC deputy CEO Loretta Tobin becomes MD, and Trimedia UK CEO Vikki Stace becomes chairman.

THC becomes the largest company within Trimedia International, which now has 30 wholly owned offices across 11 European countries.

The merger is seen by observers as logical because the Trimedia brand is better known on the Continent than in the UK, while Harrison Cowley has a reputation as a UK-specific agency with impressive regional tentacles – eight wholly owned regional offices and four regional affiliates.

Trimedia International CEO Michael Murphy, to whom Kelly now reports, admitted: ‘Trimedia needed more of a presence in the UK and Harrison Cowley needed a European network.’

Murphy and Kelly refused to rule out the possibility of the Harrison Cowley name being dropped at some point. The latter said: ‘The HC brand will exist for as long as we need to have it. It does have a ring for certain clients in certain areas.’

In a related development, Graham Isdale – a well-known figure on the Scottish agency scene – has joined to head up THC’s Scottish interests.

THC employs 17 staff in Scotland, where it has revenues of around £1m. Murphy wants Isdale – most recently at The Big Partnership – to double THC’s revenues north of the border ‘as soon as possible’.

Other key players in the new THC set-up are finance director Sam Williams and client services director Sally Habergham.

THC’s largest clients nationally are BT, the Central Office of Information and Diageo GB.