I really enjoyed my interview with these two executives from the St Ives Group. Patrick Martell and Matt Armitage are totally focused on their expansion plans and looking at their half year results they are solidly on course. Their enthusiasm and determination is very obvious. I was particularly interested in their thoughts on …

• The future business split percentages for the St Ives Group.@StIvesGroup
• The amount of time they spend finding and checking their potential acquisitions.
• The way they allow their new individual management teams stay in place to operate the company

The future for the St Ives Group.  I want to thank Patrick and Matt who gave me their expertise and time. They came up with some really interesting stats etc. in their answers and it gave me a  more than useful article for our readers. Enjoy it. Editor

1.       What is the target for St Ives in terms of proportion of print and marketing services (e.g. 40% vs 60%). What are those figures currently?

Currently, marketing services contributes 35% of our group operation profit and print contributes 65%. By 2016 the proportion of marketing services and print at St Ives Group will be 50/50. We are on course to meet our objective of an even split in two years’ time.

2.       You stated you are going to make further acquisitions? Can you say what areas they will be in?

We plan to make acquisitions in what we believe are growth areas within the marketing services industry. At the moment we are focussing on bolstering our operations in consumer insight, data and digital, as we see the biggest growth opportunities coming via those disciplines.

3.       Please outline your approach to the management of your new acquisitions?

We only buy businesses that are already successful. There is no reason to undermine that existing value once we have made an acquisition, so we leave the management team in place to operate the company as an individual brand and business in its own right. That’s happened in each case with our most recent acquisitions: Amaze, @amazeplc Branded3 @Branded_3 and Realise. @realisetweets St Ives Group gives the businesses we acquire positive action and input for growth to build them to the next level of success.

4.       What are your biggest barriers to growth? You mentioned you reviewed  over 190 companies before buying Occam, Realise etc. Is time a barrier?

Making sure we get the right cultural fit between St Ives Group and our acquisition targets is critical to our ongoing growth and future success. Therefore one of the biggest barriers is finding businesses that are not only successful in their own right already, but will feel a comfortable part of the St Ives family, sharing our values. Timing is also important; we’re not the only group on the acquisition trail for successful businesses so the search has to be thorough and relentless.

5.       Do you have international expansion plans in mind? Tell us more about Insight

In short, yes. This is exemplified by Incite, the consumer research business which we bought in 2012. The company already operates in the UK, US and Singapore and plans to open its doors in Shanghai in 2014; 20% of its turnover is non-
UK based. Amaze, our digital agency, has meanwhile set up a Chicago-based joint venture and intends to make further inroads into the US and APAC. A key driver of organic international growth is extending existing contracts with major clients into overseas markets.

6.       Matt stated you work with short two year plans.  What financial / acquisition results do you expect to achieve by mid 2016?

Our vision by mid-2016 is to have 50% of Group operating profit come from our marketing services business. We will also have made more acquisitions in that area if they are the right fit. Alongside growth through acquisition, we aim to expand existing services organically. This means greater collaboration between the 12 businesses we currently own, to offer the best possible range of services for our clients while simultaneously boosting Group revenues.

7.       Any other message you want to get across to theMarketingblog audience?

Our strategy is to further invest for growth, whilst print will remain integral to our offering, we plan to further develop our Marketing Services business.

We will target organic growth through investment and increasing collaboration across our existing businesses. Additionally, we will acquire strategically relevant businesses that broaden and strengthen our client propositions.

@StIvesGroup @amazeplc @realisetweets @Branded_3

Patrick Martell

Patrick Martell joined the Board on 2 August 2003. Patrick started with the Group in 1980, was appointed a Director of Clays in 1994 and became its Managing Director in 2000.

Since 2003 Patrick has held the positions of Managing Director – Media Products, then Managing Director – UK Operations and was appointed Chief Executive in April 2009.

Matt Armitage

Matt Armitage, ACMA, was appointed to the board as Finance Director in September 2007, Mr Armitage had previously worked for Tequila London Ltd, a below-the-line marketing services business owned by Omnicom Inc, for five years as their Finance Director.

Previously he had held various financial management positions with companies operating in the telecommunications, technology and fast-moving consumer goods industries, including ten years with Unilever plc.