BBD Perfect Storm has taken a majority stake in St Luke’s, bringing together two independent agencies. Both agency brands will continue to operate separately (for the time being at least) and BBD Perfect Storm founder Jason Foo will become chairman of St Luke’s.
The deal is being sold as “meeting client demand for senior-led, independent agency partners away from the constraints of holding companies”. In reality, it’s a tough time for smaller agencies and joining together seems like a sensible option. There are plenty of backroom efficiencies going on around finance, accounting, studio resources and production capabilities, including Peter Meaklim, chief financial officer at BBD Perfect Storm, adding the CFO and director role at St Luke’s to his duties.
The two agencies are complementary in that 65% of BBD Perfect Storm’s business is international, through clients including Etihad Airways, Dove Men, Investec, and Glenmorangie, while St Luke’s is firmly planted in the UK with clients like KP Snacks, Heathrow Airport and South Western Railway.
While BBD Perfect Storm is in the driving seat, St Luke’s is the brand with more resonance. It famously founded in 1995 after the people running the London office of Chiat\Day rejected a global Omnicom takeover (and all the money it would bring them) and relaunched themselves independently as St Luke’s, which became a pioneering creative agency of its day. In 2010, the then leadership team completed another management buyout. Meanwhile BBD, which was founded in 2013 and calls itself a “brand transformation company”, has done OK without ever making a huge mark in UK advertising.
Neil Henderson, CEO of St Luke’s, said: “St Luke’s is a special agency, and finding a partner that genuinely shared our values was always going to be a tall order. From the outset, it was clear that the culture Jason and the team at BBD Perfect Storm have built makes the two agencies kindred spirits. At a time when there’s so much turbulence across the agency landscape, we believe brands are increasingly looking for creative excellence delivered by highly engaged, independent partners with broad capability. This partnership puts us in a brilliant position to accelerate our shared growth while staying true to who we are.”
Jason Foo, founder and CEO of BBD Perfect Storm, and chairman of St Luke’s, said: “BBD Perfect Storm has built a highly international brand and cultural transformation business, while St Luke’s represents the very best of UK creative culture. Bringing those strengths together allows us to strengthen both, without diluting what makes either agency special. It’s about building a modern, independent agency platform designed around how brands actually grow today – through creativity, cultural engagement and long-term distinctiveness.”
