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Brothers launch a northern intermediary consultancy called GO!

By Olivia Atkins, Writer

July 23, 2019 | 3 min read

Brothers Gareth and Russell Oakley have launched GO! an intermediary consultancy business that works on behalf of brands and agencies across all industries and communication specialisms.

The brothers developed the new model to offer companies access to a network of best in class agencies and provide an extensive range of expertise to suit their needs.

Both have varied experience with Gareth carving out a career as a senior figure in the northern marketing and digital arena particularly with effective intermediaries, while Russell has over 10 years' worth of experience working for leading agencies.

Gareth said: “The way brands work with agencies has significantly shifted in recent times. Brand leaders are under more scrutiny and faced with more choice than ever before. Plus, quality agencies are getting left behind or struggling in this increasingly saturated market.”

“Ultimately, I was finding that brands focussing on high growth and disturbing their market, were becoming increasingly frustrated by the traditional agency model and fundamental breakdowns in relationships were forming. Yet, when I asked key stakeholders why they weren’t making a change, their response was either that they couldn’t cut through the noise so didn’t know where to start, or they simply didn’t have the time to invest in the process.”

Russell added: “From an agency perspective, I worked with leading intermediaries in London and found they added obvious value to the process. So, when I moved back to Manchester, I was astounded that there wasn’t a single intermediary operating outside of London. It struck me as a glaring gap in the market and a great opportunity to evolve the traditional intermediary model.”

“The model works because we really put the time and care into truly understanding the challenges each organisation faces and what they look for in agency partners. We then align these requirements with the expertise, culture and personality of the agencies in the GO! network, which results in a connection that strives to generate mutual success and profitability on both sides.” said Russell.

GO! launches with a new office in central Manchester, which they will move into at the end of the month. GO! already represents some 65 agencies in the UK, across Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. They have also secured high-profile brand partnerships with companies like Levi’s, AO, Match.com and Betfred and have placed over £8m of briefs to their agencies to date.

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