Thirty Three set to open Scottish office headed by Kelly
Speculation that all is not well at Bristol-based recruitment and employee communications agency Thirty Three following its recent merger with RAA have been staunchly denied by agency chairman Andrew Young.
In April, ThirtyThree acquired the entire share capital of Bristol-based agency, RAA Sprague Gibbons, in a move that has created a specialist recruitment communications agency with billings in excess of £10m.
Young said that rumours of a fall-out between the new-look agency and its clients are unfounded. He said: “We haven’t lost any clients as a result of the changes. They can see the added benefit that the acquisition will have.
"Clients now have access to brand new services not previously available from RAA. And the overall reaction has been positive,” he told The Drum.
Since opening their Bristol office five years ago, ThirtyThree has become the third largest recruitment advertising agency in the region. And their recent acquisition of RAA is likely to challenge the dominance of the more established agencies in Bristol, TMP and Barkers.
“Regional growth is a very important part of our plan and the joining of both companies will raise our profile in the South West and attract large scale clients,” said Young.
“We now handle a portfolio of over 100 clients from the commercial and public sector with large scale on both a regional and national level, including the Audit Commission, Baker Tilly and NFU Mutual.”
Indeed, with offices already in Bristol and London, ThirtyThree is further expanding its operations with the opening of a new Scottish office based in Edinburgh on 1st September. The move comes on the back of a series of recent awards, including the prestigious Grand Prix prize win at the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personal Development) awards.
Alan Kelly, formerly managing director of Barkers Scotland, will be leading the new operation while Sarah Cochrane – a long-serving member of the Bristol operation - will be relocating from Bristol to head up client services.