Brands2Life

Founded 25 years ago this year by Giles Fraser and Sarah Scales—both of whom continue in their leadership roles—Brands2Life continues to be regarded as one of the UK’s leading technology public relations firms, although the past decade has seen the firm expand both its capabilities (with clients in the consumer and healthcare sectors and work spanning digital and social media, purpose-driven branding, and public affairs) and its geographic footprint (with three offices in the US, where the firm is growing swiftly). In 2020, B2L became a majority employee-owned trust to give all employees a stake in the business and in December 2023, the firm was sold to Scandinavian communications holding company Paritee, parent of Geelmuyden Kiese.

Fee income grew modestly in 2024, up by about 3% to just under $29 million, but many of the underlying metrics were more impressive: the firm added $4.7 million in new business from 42 new clients; and now has 10 clients providing revenue of more than $0.5 million. The firm’s “Better Stories Bigger Impact” initiative has resulted in more of its largest clients using at least three of its core service offers, and client satisfaction rates are high. The firm continues to work with Booking.com, Champion Pet Foods, CooperVision, LNER, Hologic, LinkedIn, Nikon, Qlik, Russell Reynolds, Sanofi, Tetra Pak, Vodafone, and Xero, whilenew business in 2024 came from Amazon Web Services, Avery Dennison, Bayer, Eaton, Engie, Hitachi ZeroCarbon, Risk Ledger, Vista Health, Vodafone VOIS, and more.

Positioned as “The Agency for the Brands Transforming Our World,” the firm’s broad suite of services and impressive experience held clients develop brand identities, strategies, narratives, and stories that stand out. In 2024 the firm launched five new speciality services and capabilities: The AI Hub, Executive Comms, IPO Readiness, Demand Generation, and Pharma. Outstanding client work included working the National Energy System Operator to communicate its purpose, vision and values, creating the organisation’s new name, logo, and messaging; bringing together Informa Tech and TechTarget with a unified vision and visual identity; positioning Tetra Pak as a leader of the food systems transition; and strengthening Hologic’s leadership in women’s health.

Every employee was a beneficiary of the sale to Paritee, in keeping with a culture that includes a top-of-the-line benefits programme that includes volunteer days, community outreach, and paid sabbaticals. More than 100 hours of staff training last year included significant investment in Allyship training across the business as part of its Diversity & Inclusion initiatives. New additions to the team over the past 12 months included Graham Cox as chief growth officer from McCann Central; Isabelle Scali as head of pharma from ViiV Healthcare; and Nabil Hanafi, a boomerang, as practice director, consumer.—PH