MILAN — Strategic communications firm SEC Newgate has merged its two agencies in Poland, to create a 50-strong agency in the Central Eastern Europe region.

SEC Newgate Polska – formerly known as Martis Consultants, acquired by the group in 2017 – will be merged into SEC Newgate CEE, which was set up in 2021. In 2022 the combined income delivered by the two Warsaw-based operations reached nearly €2.5 million, with a market reach spanning from the border of Germany, to Greece, to the Baltic.

The combined agency will handle local and regional client projects across crisis management, public affairs, financial communications, investor relations and ESG consulting, with the aim of building a leading strategic communications agency in one of the fastest-growing areas of Europe.

The move is in line with SEC Newgate Group’s approach to integrating its agencies in larger markets; the group merged London agencies Newgate and Newington into SEC Newgate UK in 2021.

SEC Newgate CEE will be managed by its founding partners – Zofia Bugajna-Kasdepke, Joanna Poniatowska and CEO Sebastian Hejnowski (pictured, right), with the addition of Maciej Powroźnik (left), former president of the management board of SEC Newgate Polska, as managing partner.

Group CEO Fiorenzo Tagliabue said: “SEC Newgate Group’s European footprint has always been a distinctive feature for us and we always look at this crucial market with attention. I am confident this new step towards a lean and efficient organization in the region will allow us to seize consistent opportunities for further growth.”

Hejnowski, now president of the management board of SEC Newgate CEE, added: “The initiative is a natural consolidation process of two entities from one capital group, operating largely in the same market. With such enhanced potential, we are capable of serving the largest clients in Poland comprehensively and as a hub for CEE markets.”