Hilton Smythe Group has expanded its business services with the acquisition of a digital marketing specialist, Reward Agency.
Established in 2014, Reward provides a range of marketing services including branding, website design, social media content and SEO, working with a client base across sectors including property, retail and business to business with a focus on helping ethical brands grow.
Following the acquisition, the Manchester-based agency has relocated to Hilton Smythe’s headquarters in Bolton. The new digital marketing division will be led by Reward founder Mitchel White, who joins Hilton Smythe as part of the deal, and will build on the momentum the agency has achieved in recent months.
Reward has secured a number of significant projects including helping a bricks and mortar retailer, Amaranth Wellbeing, update its digital presence and e-commerce capabilities to overcome the loss of footfall in its Manchester and Bramwell stores during the lockdowns and tier restrictions.
Also, in the retail sector, Reward supported the launch of a new wellbeing, sports nutrition brand during, Champs Tea. Having developed its brand, e-commerce platform and digital marketing, Reward helped Champs Tea use the run up to Black Friday to secure its first retail orders.
The agency also created a new brand for a collection of commercial property schemes managed by Cushman & Wakefield on behalf of Aviva to create a new cohesive single identity for a community of buildings located throughout Manchester.
Hilton Smythe plans to further scale the division in the coming months with plans to establish a team of eight digital marketing professionals, supported by the established infrastructure of the wider group.
Already offering business brokerage and finance services, this acquisition strengthens the range of complementary services Hilton Smythe can provide to customers.
In addition to servicing its own client base, the division will be able to support Hilton Smythe’s UK-wide business sales operation, which helps SME owners sell their businesses, with additional add-on marketing support.
Gareth Smyth, CEO of Hilton Smythe Group, said: “Digital marketing is an integral part of our business sales operation and we were keen to bring as much of this activity in-house and the addition of an agency like Reward with its own client base not only meets this objective, but provides a platform for further growth across the group.
“We are pleased that Mitchel has joined Hilton Smythe as part of the transaction as he brings a skill set and client relationships that will add value to our business and the services we offer to clients. We are keen to expand the division quickly and will be recruiting new people in the coming months to create the capacity for additional clients and provide complementary services to the businesses we already work with.”
Mitchel White said: “Gareth and the team at Hilton Smythe have built an impressive business and I am really pleased to join the team. Its established and supportive back office operations and national footprint were really attractive to me and provide an opportunity to further develop our digital marketing capabilities.”
