PR agency 89up expands by a third with new hires and client wins

Agency goes carbon neutral, using new agritech climate technology. New 2,500 ft offices a 'Mark of intention' as 89up comes home to Clerkenwell. Team grows from 25 to 30 with senior hires from Oxfam, Portland and GMB.
  • Agency goes carbon neutral, using new agritech climate technology that stops cows burping
     
  • New 2,500 ft offices a ‘mark of intention’ as 89up comes home to Clerkenwell
     
  • Team grows from 25 to 30 with senior hires from Oxfam, Portland and GMB

“The future is impact” declares purpose agency 89up as it announces year on year double-digit revenue growth with new international client wins, a new office in the heart of Clerkenwell and growth in the agency’s headcount from 25 to 30 full time staff.

The agency, which tackles complex global issues from climate change to defending an open internet to human rights, has expanded in the run-up to major global events including the G7 and COP26, where the agency’s specialism on climate change, sustainability and impact technologies are centre-stage.

PR Director Sarah Jane Rumford will become Managing Partner of the agency, with a wider remit including the development of the agency’s product offer and R&D programme. Joining 89up in 2017 as PR Director, with 20 years of experience at Blue Rubicon and Cohn & Wolfe, industry veteran Sarah-Jane Rumford has been instrumental in growing 89up’s client base and revenue, winning awards and expanding the team.

New hires include Cordelia Kretzschmar, former ITV presenter and Head of Public Relations at Oxfam, who joins as Account Director, Tom Mauchline, a senior consultant at Portland who joins as Director of Campaigns, Alex Jones, who joins as an Account Director, formerly Head of Communications at the GMB trade union and Samatha O’Brochta, a US influencer who is joining as a creative.

The agency has just taken a new top spec 2,500 square feet office in Clerkenwell, returning to the area in which the company was founded seven years ago.

Big client wins this year include the Internet Society for two major global projects, the Crack the Crisis ‘Wave of Hope’ initiative in the run up to the G7 that brought together over 80 of Britain’s biggest charities, startup Brevio, an online platform that aims to revolutionise the relationship between charities and funders through data, social sciences publishing house Sage, anti-racism and fascism advocacy group Hope Not Hate, alongside a web launch for footballer Marcus Rashford and the Food Foundation.

The agency has stayed true to its founding mission to take on clients that promote democracy and human rights with new campaigns supporting the Belarusian opposition and exiled Hong Kongers in the last six months.

In order to play its part in the global fight against climate change, the agency is also announcing it has gone net zero, offsetting its entire carbon footprint from its activities using one of its client’s technologies. 89up’s client Mootral is one of the world’s most promising and scalable solutions to climate change, reducing the methane emissions of cows by up to 30%. 89up has offset its entire annual carbon footprint by purchasing ‘cow credits’ off Mootral that in turn will subsidise the product for farmers to give to their herd, reducing the amount of methane released by the cows while burping.

Company growth:

Mike Harris, Founder and CEO of 89up, states: “We’re attracting top flight talent because we’re working on some of the most exciting client accounts going. This year we’ve been briefed on the most complex challenges going - from freedom in Hong Kong, to tackling climate change and keeping the internet open and secure. Purpose agencies didn’t exist seven years ago, now we’re in the fastest growing sector of our industry. But to compete, we’ve got to scale and continue to go toe to toe with creative advertising agencies, public affairs firms and specialist data firms. By bringing multiple disciplines together, we are genuinely competitive against firms ten times larger by revenue.”

Sarah-Jane Rumford, Managing Partner, commented: “Throughout a turbulent year, 89up has grown in size and won a string of exciting new projects, along with retaining core clients. With a team working remotely around the globe and all the nations of the UK, we’ve worked with change-makers across different sectors to solve big problems. Our clients are diverse, spanning digital rights, climate change, social good, ethical finance, and more, yet our mission is consistent: create campaigns which shape the world for the better. Our goal is to produce exceptional work for non-profits and cause-driven commercial clients, delivering communications with a conscience without compromise on client service or results. From freeing political prisoners to tackling the climate crisis, there’s far more than balance sheets at stake with our work - meaning we must be at the top of our game for every campaign”.

Notes to editors:

Please contact Skye Redman - skye@89up.org / 020 3411 2899

About 89up

89up is a fully integrated agency with PR, social, digital and developers under one roof. The team of PR professionals, advocates, tech innovators and social creators work with non-profits and commercial clients, delivering communications with a conscience. 89up also publishes the award-winning Little Atoms magazine, podcast and website, packed with interviews and features on literature, culture, science and politics from the world’s best writers.

Find 89up on Twitter and LinkedIn, and Little Atoms on Twitter.