And finally…record year sees staff at Scots PR firm share £250k bonus pot

Employees of Scottish PR firm The BIG Partnership are to share in a £250,000 bonus pay-out after the agency reported its best-ever year.

Turnover at the marketing agency, which has offices across Scotland and in Manchester, has increased by £1.4 million to £8.8 million in the year to May 31st 2018, its highest-ever.

The agency, which employs 107 people, has also seen profits rise to £1.4 million after investing heavily in its creative and digital teams.

Major account wins across all offices have been complemented with an increase in marketing-led accounts with existing clients including Loganair, Stewart Milne Group and global energy skills body OPITO.

The company’s Manchester office, which opened in 2015, has doubled profits in the last year after new wins including packaging enhancement specialist API Group, leading planning consultancy Turley and an expanded remit with legal firm Addleshaw Goddard to support its Manchester and Leeds offices.

BIG director Allan Barr said: “Winning more integrated accounts, where we combine digital, marketing, design and PR to make a measurable impact for clients, has significantly boosted performance this year.

“As well as new account wins, we’ve also expanded the range of services we provide to existing clients, which has made a major contribution to fee income. Increasingly, clients are looking for an agency which is adept at combining SEO, PPC, social media and PR to give returns that they can measure, so we’ve worked hard to recruit really effective, experienced experts in these fields.

“We have a hugely talented team which works incredibly hard for clients and it’s important that they share in the success of the business, so we’re genuinely thrilled to be paying out our largest-ever staff bonus across the entire company.”

BIG runs a successful intern scheme, paying the living wage, which has benefitted 26 interns in the last year, with a further eight taking up placements over the coming months. The business, which has taken on 27 people in the last 12 months is poised for further growth and expects to increase headcount significantly over the next financial year, particularly in digital, design, creative and strategy roles.

Mr Barr added: “This year has been the strongest in our history and we have continued to invest heavily in our people. We have strong momentum as we start our new financial year and will be unveiling some further senior hires very soon.”

Digital income is up 51% and BIG has strengthened its offering around SEO, PPC, social advertising and video content. The firm has secured new business across a range of sectors, including energy, food and drink, sport, transport and property including new assignments for the Offshore Europe partnership, which leads one of the world’s largest oil and gas conference and exhibitions and property developer Dandara.

BIG, which has over 300 clients, offers a transparent bonus system based on company, team and individual performance.