By Ian McConnell
Business Editor
PUBLIC relations agency Muckle Media has acquired sector stablemate Taste Communications Scotland for a six-figure sum.
Taste was owned by non-executive director Sheila Jardine, wife of founder Stephen Jardine, and hospitality industry veteran and former Gleneagles chairman Peter Lederer, Muckle Media noted.
Muckle Media, which is 100%-owned by managing director Nathalie Agnew, said Taste had been formed 10 years ago and had “fast established itself as Scotland’s first specialist food and drink agency”.
It added: “[Taste's] growing reputation has resulted in long-term relationships with top luxury brands including Gleneagles, Fairmont St Andrews, Prestonfield and The Three Chimneys.”
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Highlighting an appetite for further expansion, Ms Agnew said Edinburgh-based Muckle Media was “actively seeking further investment opportunities as we grow an exciting, nurturing and ethical agency with global ambitions, from our Scottish base”.
She added: “I’ve long admired the work of Stephen and the Taste…team and the fantastic brands they work with.
“This deal builds upon our existing experience helping food, drink and hospitality brands to grow through strategic, creative communications, bolstering our team and client list.”
Ms Agnew said Mr Jardine, who will become a non-executive director of Muckle Media, had been a shareholder in Taste Communications Scotland until 2019.
Mr Jardine said: “After 10 years in business I wanted to find a fresh way to take Taste forward and develop what we have achieved. Nathalie has built a brilliant business with a great reputation and Muckle Media is the ideal home for the next chapter in the Taste story.”
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Muckle Media previously acquired Platform PR, in 2015.
Ms Agnew noted Muckle Media now has 26 employees, “including two from Taste and support staff”. Mr Jardine and senior account manager Catriona Quinn, who joined Taste in January 2019, are moving across to Muckle Media.
Taste will relocate to Muckle Media’s headquarters at WeWork on George Street in Edinburgh.
Muckle Media said it would “integrate with...Taste...over a 12-month period from April 1, with Taste founder Stephen Jardine becoming a non-executive director”.
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