A Westminster communications group has bought Social, the Manchester-born agency with offices in Leeds and Liverpool, betting that the devolution drive will pull decision-making away from Whitehall.

A Westminster communications firm has bought one of the North’s best-known agencies, in a deal it says is driven by power moving from Whitehall to the regions.

PLMR has acquired Social Communications Group, which was founded in Sale in 2012 and now has offices in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. The price was not disclosed but runs to seven figures. The combined business will have annual income of around £12 million and 110 staff across eight offices, from Glasgow to Ipswich.

The deal comes ten weeks after the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, made his Cabinet statement of 31 July. Under it, mayors will keep a share of locally raised income tax and business rates, gain more control over transport spending, post-16 technical education and employment support, and be able to pool public-service budgets. New strategic authorities are expected to be in place by the end of 2028.

Social built its name in housing, regeneration and infrastructure. It has worked for every established mayoral combined authority in the North, including West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and York and North Yorkshire, and has supported the Convention of the North for six years. Its clients include Lovell, Caddick Developments, JLL and Extra MSA Group.

Founder John Quinton-Barber has committed to running the business for at least four years and joins PLMR’s operational board. The agency will trade as “Social, part of the PLMR Group”.

Both ends of the bargain

“Greater Manchester showed the country what happens when decisions are taken by people who know the place,” said Mr Quinton-Barber. “The rest of England is now catching up.”

He said he had not wanted a deal for its own sake. What persuaded him was the training and career prospects for his team, which he said would have taken years to build alone.

PLMR founder and chief executive Kevin Craig was blunter about the politics. “What people have started calling Manchesterism is now national policy,” he said. In his view, clients now need advisers who understand both the Whitehall departments that write the rules and the combined authorities that spend the money, and few agencies can offer both.

Mr Craig said Social had been on his radar since 2017, but he only rang Mr Quinton-Barber early last year. He described the deal as a partnership, not a takeover, and has set the group a target of £20 million in income.

Both firms are certified B Corporations. Joint workshops begin this month, followed by an all-staff day in the North in November.

If power really is heading north, the advisers mean to be there when it arrives.