Find out how GrowthAccelerator has helped Tank PR to grow and win business from bigger clients quicker than they could have done alone

1. Case Study – Tank PR
May 2014
Sector: Public Relations
No. of employees: 10
Turnover: £380,000 (2013)
Location: Nottingham
Growth Manager: Tim Sutton
Service used: Business Development,
Leadership Management Training
Snapshot – impact of GrowthAccelerator
• A strategy to grow turnover to £1m by 2017 which is
already a year ahead of schedule
• Winning new clients such as Red Bull against large
agencies, being awarded the CIPR’s ‘Outstanding Small
Consultancy’ Silver award 2012 and having a reputation
as the No. 1 PR agency in the East Midlands
• The recruitment of six new employees, taking the total
to 10, and the development of a high-performance
management team trained to lead a fast-growing
business.
About
Launched in 2010 by Trevor Palmer – named in Insider
Magazine’s ‘42 under 42’ entrepreneurs listing in the
same year – Tank PR is a PR agency dedicated to helping
companies of all sizes achieve their objectives through
fresh, results-driven PR. It creates and delivers B2B and B2C
campaigns encompassing social media for clients such as
Ikano Bank UK, Miller Homes, Karl McKeever and Pall-Ex.
The business challenge
Within 18 months Tank PR had moved into larger offices,
taken on its third salaried member of staff and established
a name for itself in the industry and beyond as a ‘guerrilla’
brand to watch. ‘The company had proved the strength
of its business model and was ready for phase two of its
development,’ says Growth Coach Stuart Ross. ‘It needed
the strategy, structures and mindset to scale up for the rapid
expansion that its early results – achieved during the worst of
the recession – had shown was well within its grasp.’
How GrowthAccelerator has helped
Trevor Palmer, Martin Stone and Stuart set in motion a
transformation plan to enable the business to win and
absorb significantly more work in a highly professional and
organised way without in any way diluting the dynamic
culture and quirky creativity it is known for.
Tank PR Is now steaming ahead with confidence having
addressed the issues identified as the foundation blocks
for growth. The agency has a new vision and values to
unite behind, a robust management structure with clear
responsibilities and, a personality-based approach to
recruitment to ensure new employees are a good fit. It has
also implemented processes and systems to ensure the best
possible customer experience and an already well proven
new sales process, focused on keeping the sales funnel full
and demonstrating how the business adds value. Stuart
has also helped Trevor to evolve and roll out a distinctive
new brand message in line with its changing client base
and ambitions and create a new social media offering after
recruiting one of the country’s top experts in the digital field,
Nik Hewitt.
‘GrowthAccelerator has helped us to grow and win business
from bigger clients quicker than we could have done alone,’
says Trevor. ‘Without it we would probably have been
quite successful – but we would definitely have been more
shambolic! A lot of agencies grow but then have to stop to
sort themselves out. Thanks to Stuart we’ve got everything
in place to be able to keep growing - and I have to say it’s
not that stressful! I got what I needed in Stuart – we are
very well matched. He is the polar opposite of me, so while
I’m fast talking and good at persuading people to do great
things with their brands through PR, he’s very good at
listening, challenging and giving you confidence in your own
ideas and in going for them in a way that will work for the
business. It must all be working, as we are well on track to far
exceed £500,000 turnover this year.’