Telescope Group, the Leeds-based direct mail, print and marketing group, has acquired fellow Leeds business AC Database Services (ACD), the Morley-based data management and bureau company, for an undisclosed sum.
The move formalises a partnership that has run for more than 15 years, and protects all jobs at the acquired firm.
The deal adds close to 10 per cent to group turnover and has already opened up new business. Existing Telescope clients are now using the expanded data services, with more work in the pipeline off the back of the acquisition.
Telescope Group brings together specialists in direct mail, catalogue and print production, website design and build, direct and digital marketing, and, through its agency Clearsilver Brand Marketing, strategic marketing, PR and communications, with a particular specialism in the education sector. Adding ACD’s data work gives the group an offer that runs end to end, from raw consumer data through to the finished, mailed campaign.
ACD runs a full data bureau, taking a client’s raw customer file and turning it into a mailing file through suppression screening, postal address and national change of address checks, cleansing and deduplication, all of which cut waste and maximise postal discounts. Alongside the bureau, it builds and hosts bespoke marketing databases, giving clients a single customer view they can query online, with recency and frequency modelling used to target communications across mail, SMS and email.
ACD’s scale is significant. For one client alone, it hosts and maintains a customer database running to more than eight million individuals and over a billion pieces of related data, updated daily. ACD’s clients include British heritage leisurewear specialist Cotton Traders and modern luxury direct-to-consumer pioneer Me+Em, alongside other retail, mail order and travel businesses.
The full ACD team, and client base, join Telescope Group following the decision by founder and owner Andy Cowman to step back from day-to-day operations. Cowman, who launched ACD in 2010, will continue to work with Telescope as a consultant, giving clients continuity and keeping his knowledge within the group.
Telescope managing director Carl Garnett has known Cowman and the ACD team since the late 1990s, when they worked together at a previous business, so the acquisition brings together colleagues who already know each other well.
Garnett said: “This is a good day for us. Andy and I have worked alongside each other for the best part of 26 years, first as colleagues and then as partners, so bringing ACD into the group feels like a natural step rather than a big leap. Andy is a friend, his team are people we already know and rate, and we are pleased to be able to secure their jobs and give their clients the continuity they need.
“It is honestly an exciting move providing significant opportunity for growth. It has already opened doors to new business, it keeps two established Leeds businesses growing together, and it gives our clients a genuine end-to-end offer, from understanding the customer right through to the doormat.”
Cowman added: “Telescope was always the natural home for the business when I decided to reduce my involvement. Carl and I have worked together for a long time and there is a real trust there, so I know my clients and my team are in good hands. The two businesses have effectively worked as one on a lot of this data for years, so bringing it together properly makes complete sense.”
