A creative agency is set for a £1m turnover ahead of target after completing its second deal in two years.
Chippenham-based Milk & Tweed forecast reaching the milestone within three years after merging with Boson Media from Bradford on Avon in 2021.
Now, having acquired Brighton agency Huxley, it is on course to hit the target a year early.
Huxley, launched in 2015 by managing director Dom Huxley, specialises in website design and build, with an emphasis on accessibility that has brought in a number of charity clients.
Milk & Tweed also creates websites but also offers brand/logo design and digital marketing. Its clients include Goughs solicitors, mobile payments platform Fonix and Carl Todd Clinics, which specialise in osteopathy and physiotherapy.
Milk & Tweed creative director Jake Jeffries said the buyout would boost both businesses by adding skills and experience.
“It’s really exciting for both us and Huxley,” he said. “It's a really good fit from both the customers’ and businesses’ point of view, because we can now offer some of their customers our services such as digital marketing and we will be inheriting technical web skills that will add to our offer.
“Huxley also appealed to me because of its location – Brighton is a vibrant, affluent area that is close to London but also not too far from us.”
He said it was “crazy” that his agency was looking to hit the £1m turnover figure in just two years.
“We are coming off the back of a record-breaking month and our best-ever quarter so it’s a really good time to be doing this,” he added.
“There’s a lot of competition in the Brighton area but we hold our own in a very strong marketplace around Bristol and Bath.
“We have really talented people at both offices and the acquisition offers a lot of opportunity for development with staff being able to work in Chippenham or Brighton.”
Milk & Tweed, which is on course for to turn over £750,000 this year, has 15 staff while Huxley, which is expecting a turnover of £340,000, has four full-time staff at its studio.
Huxley is also awaiting confirmation of certification as a B Corp – the hallmark of high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
Jake, who will be dividing his time between Wiltshire and Sussex, added: “It’s a huge testament to Huxley that they’ve achieved this and we want to do the same for Milk & Tweed.
“It’s just one example of how the ethos of the two business are aligned.”
Dom Huxley will stay with the merged business in a consultant role.
“Dom is a really good guy and has been a great to deal with,” said Jake. “He has built a business that is an excellent fit with ours – if I’d drawn up a list of what would make an ideal acquisition they would be pretty close.”
Huxley/Milk & Tweed head of operations Elizabeth Ide added: “This merger allows us to offer a whole host of great new services to Huxley customers.
“SEO and digital marketing is so important for any business and website, so for us to now be able to offer this to our customers, providing more value and support to their business, is really exciting for us all.”
