Two Circles, the data driven sports agency acquired by GroupM’s ESP Properties in May 2015, has announced significant international expansion plans on the back of another record year.
2015 saw revenue and growth levels for the company at over 50% with a significant emphasis on international client work and a third consecutive shortlisting for the UK’s Agency of the Year title at the 2016 BT Sport Industry Awards. As a result of this growth trajectory, the company has today announced it is building a mainland Europe team to be based in Switzerland as well as adding dedicated resources to expand its offering in the United States through ESP Properties offices in New York and Chicago. These offices will support contracts which are already well underway in these markets and facilitate further collaboration within the wider ESP Properties business on an international basis.
In order to underpin this growth Two Circles has announced some major team changes to strengthen its management team to enable it to seize this opportunity. There are two major outside appointments. Matthew Entwistle joins from his role as Operations Director at Monsoon Accessorize to become Group Managing Director. Dale Kirsop, formerly Head of Membership at the Guardian has been appointed Commercial Operations Director. Existing Two Circlers, Phil Stephan, Jackie Hunter and Kristian Gotsch will take on leadership responsibility for the agency’s Global Consulting offer, Technology Development and European growth respectively with Kristian Gotsch leading the Swiss presence. Claire Rogan continues as Finance Director and will also assume this role across the wider ESP Properties business in EMEA.
The two co-founders of Two Circles also assume new roles. Gareth Balch takes over as CEO from Matt Rogan who will now take the role of Chairman. Matt will also take on a larger role in the business growth strategy for ESP Properties.
Two Circles’ acquisition by GroupM was named Acquisition International Magazine’s ‘’Technology, Media and Telecommunications UK Deal of the Year’’ in 2015. The GroupM partnership has also enabled the agency immediate access to some of the most advanced technological platforms in the marketing industry as it looks to continue its reputation for driving material revenue growth for its clients.
Commenting on the new developments Gareth Balch, CEO Two Circles, said, “The last 4 years have been an incredible journey for Two Circles and I am extremely proud of what our team has achieved. The international platform afforded to our business through ESP Properties and GroupM has accelerated our move to the next level. Our key focus now will be on consolidating our reputation by continuing to deliver quality client work across all client revenue streams – fan, brand and media, while at the same time expanding our offering internationally”.
John Kristick, Global CEO ESP Properties, commented, ‘’We identified early the huge potential of what Two Circles had to offer to the sports and entertainment market in terms of helping federations, leagues, teams and other organizations develop a much greater understanding of their audience and fan base in order to drive all major revenue streams. We see this capability as core to our ESP proposition, and are delighted to be working with such a talented and driven management team to realise the opportunity in front of us.’’
–ENDS-–
Matthew Entwistle Dale Kirsop Gareth Balch
For further information, contact:
Dale Kirsop, Commercial Operations Director, Two Circles
dale.kirsop@insidetwocircles.com
About Two Circles:
Two Circles is a data driven sports marketing agency that helps sports organisations build stronger relationships with their customers to drive growth. The business helps its clients improve customer experience, increase revenue and enhance their partner proposition. In May 2015, Two Circles became part of ESP Properties, a WPP company. ESP Properties is a new type of agency, dedicated to helping rights holders from the worlds of sports and entertainment take advantage of digital and data driven changes in the media landscape.
The agency’s clients now include global sporting federations, leading soccer teams in many European markets, digital sports channels and some of the biggest sports leagues in the world.
