LONDON (Brand Republic) - Former advertising guru Don Elgie is shaping Creston, formerly a property company, into a marketing services group following a reverse takeover bid for Synergie Consulting.
Elgie, who is the founder of Synergie and chief executive designate of Creston, will use a strategy of company takeovers to form a company covering e-commerce consultancy, market research, direct marketing and telemarketing.
Creston鈥檚 first deal is the purchase of Marketing Sciences, a market research company, for £8.5m.
鈥淲e will acquire companies with good prospects and a good history of growth,鈥 Elgie said. But, he added, Creston would steer clear of companies in cyclical sectors, such as advertising, public relations and design, until the company had seen satisfactory growth and was able to deal with any fluctuations in those industries.
Elgie has a career stretching back more than 20 years in advertising and marketing. He has worked for agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi and Grandfield Rork Collins, as well as helping to found both EDM, the marketing communications group, and Elgie Stewart Smith with Brian Stewart, the former vice-chairman and joint creative director of Delaney Fletcher Bozell, and Barry Smith.
Elgie said, 鈥淲e are already working on a number of other acquisitions and intend to achieve a marketing services group with real critical mass.鈥
Tim Alderson, former KPMG consultant and a divisional finance director at Thames Water, will become finance director.