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WEST COAST CAPITAL BACKS SIR CHRIS EVANS AND ELLIPSES PHARMA

Sir Tom Hunter today confirmed West Coast Capital (“WCC”), the investment arm of the Hunter family has backed Ellipses Pharma the cancer drugs venture founded by Sir Chris Evans, the biotech entrepreneur, and backed by an eclectic group of investors including the president of the United Arab Emirates. WCC made a multi-million pound investment.

Commenting Sir Tom said;

“I’ve known Chris for over 25 years and invested with him over the years. This investment for us is very exciting – the quality of the Team, world class use of expert knowledge and the intelligent disruption of financing the drug discovery…And then of course led by the force of nature that is Professor Sir Chris Evans.”

Ellipses Pharma has invested $150 million into its clinical drugs pipeline and is planning to invest another $100 million, of which $40 million was raised recently.

The company’s investors include Mohamed bin Zayed, president of the UAE, Steve Morgan, founder of the housebuilder Redrow, the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood.

The venture has three “very exciting” oncology drugs

For further information review these documents: Press Release & Additional Press Article

New schools’ partnership programme set to inspire next generation of Winchburgh youngsters

To celebrate Scottish Careers Week, Winchburgh Developments Limited (WDL) West Lothian College and Winchburgh Academy have joined together to launch a 16 week ‘Developing Winchburgh’ Schools Partnership. The new mentoring programme aims to inform and inspire the new S1 intake of school pupils at the recently completed, Winchburgh Academy. 

Winchburgh Academy’s new schools programme will provide practical insights into what it takes to work in the jobs required to deliver a vast masterplan like Winchburgh’s. The pupils will hear from key experts working daily on the project, who will give an insight into the breadth and types of roles that contribute to making Winchburgh’s vision a reality. The programme will cover many different professions including planners, lawyers, architects, and engineers to name a few. Each discipline will be covered in-depth with opportunities for school pupils to attend site visits and take part in round table discussions where they can question the experts over the course of the 16 weeks. 

Launching the new schools programme, John Hamilton, Chief Executive of Winchburgh Developments, told the audience of peers and school pupils: “The ultimate aim of this partnership programme with Winchburgh Academy and West Lothian College to inspire Winchburgh’ s future talent by showing that not everyone needs five A’s to kickstart exciting careers.

“From what I’ve witnessed today, the S1 pupils at Winchburgh Academy don’t need too much encouragement. It’s brilliant to see this level of energy and interest from the pupils in the developing village around them. I’m delighted we are able to showcase roles outside of the traditional trades and visit our sites to highlight how they might get involved now, and in the future, to help foster a strong and inclusive community in Winchburgh.”

S1 pupil, Numaira, from Winchburgh, thanked the team on behalf of the students: “We’re looking forward to hearing about the jobs and skills that are involved in the building going on around us. Some of us might even find our future careers. We’re really excited about getting out on site to find out more. We’re really looking forward to it.”

In a Q&A session following presentations, the pupils put the team of professionals on the spot with questions asking about salaries, site progress and provenance of house builders. One pupil asked, “how big will Winchburgh be once it’s complete?”. To which Robin Matthew, Planning Consultant, relayed the scale of the project explaining, “It will be as big as 500 football pitches. It’s incredible to think of the scale. A long-term project that will eventually see the population rise from 2,000 to 13,000.”

All 54 of Winchburgh Academy’s school pupils took part in the launch event, which was organised by Colin Kerr, Deputy Head Teacher at Winchburgh Academy, who added his support: “We are really pleased to be working in partnership with Winchburgh Developments and West Lothian College in an exciting new curriculum initiative.  Their support is providing us with opportunities to design our curriculum in relation to our community and context taking into account local labour market intelligence, to further develop employability skills and health and well-being of our S1 students.  Working in partnership with them as a new school lets us work creatively to develop both multi-and interdisciplinary learning opportunities for our students. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership for the benefit of the young people in Winchburgh Academy.”

Outlining West Lothian College’s involvement, Simon Earp, Vice Principal, said: “We’re delighted to be a partner in this great initiative. The collaboration of partners has produced such an innovative approach.

“As well as delivering a great learning opportunity for the students, the partnership will enable new career pathways to be developed, which will help Winchburgh students to acquire the future skills that are in so much demand by the industry and go on to really fulfilling and rewarding careers.”

Winchburgh Academy is one of three schools recently completed through a £61 million tripartite partnership agreement between Winchburgh Developments Ltd. West Lothian Council and Hub South East, to provide a learning campus adjacent to the new 85-acre Auldcathie District Park, including a sports centre and health and wellbeing hub which will open to the public in January 2023. 

Winchburgh Academy opened to pupils this August for the start of the new 2022 Autumn term. With a rollcall of just 54 pupils, the school is set to grow organically as the development evolves with the Council committed to occupying the building each year from S1 – S6. Sitting alongside Winchburgh Academy is Holy Family Primary School with a new pre-school nursery, and a second (denominational) high school, Sinclair Academy, planning to open Autumn next year. 

Full list of companies taking part in the ‘Developing Winchburgh’ Schools Partnership: Pinsent Masons, Cala, Ramboll, Open Optimised Environments, PMR Leisure, Scottish Water, I & H Brown, Scottish Water, RJ McLeod, and PPCA town planning.

Follow the story online #ScotCareersWeek22

West Coast Capital Acquires Minority Stake in Buzzworks Holdings

West Coast Capital, the investment arm of the Hunter family has acquired a minority stake in the
Scottish hospitality business, Buzzworks Holdings.

Commenting on the acquisition, Sir Tom Hunter noted;
“We are delighted to support the scaling up of Buzzworks and their ambitious target to double in
size by 2025. This is a fantastic business run by three highly entrepreneurial and talented brothers
and sister, Alison, Kenny and Colin supported by a phenomenal team – precisely why we are
investing.”

Kenny Blair, MD for Buzzworks Holdings, said: “Our vision for Buzzworks has always been to not only
make people feel great through hospitality, but to bring world class hospitality to towns and suburbs
across Scotland. Through the hard work and dedication from our whole team, not only are we
achieving this, but firms such as West Coast Capital have seen the benefits of investing in a strong
and successful business such as ours.

“Having recently opened a new venue in Linlithgow and several more in the pipeline, this new
partnership means that Buzzworks can accelerate our growth plans further, doubling the business by
2025, whilst providing even more opportunities for us to bring both jobs and invest within the
communities we operate – a factor that is close to both Buzzworks and West Coast Capital.

“We are proud of what the business has achieved so far, with 14 venues across Scotland offering a
unique blend of food, drink, style and service. By having an equally ambitious partner alongside
Buzzworks, this alliance will provide us with further momentum to invest in people and premises in
the coming years to meet our target of being one of the best independent hospitality groups in the
country.”

Innovid Announces Acquisition of Converged TV Measurement Leader, TVSquared

Combination Expands Independent, Currency-Grade Measurement Platform Across TV, CTV & Digital

• Purchase price valued at approximately $160 million consists of $100 million in cash as well as additional stock consideration. 
• TVSquared total preliminary revenue for the full year of 2021 is expected to be between $20 – $22 million.
• Combined business positions Innovid as a single source for ad-serving and measurement for converged TV. 
• Innovid also announced today preliminary expectations for 2021 Q4 and Full Year results, the press release can be seen here.

NEW YORK & EDINBURGH – February 7, 2022 – Innovid (NYSE: CTV), a leading independent connected TV (CTV) advertising delivery and measurement platform, and TVSquared Ltd. (“TVSquared”), an independent global measurement and attribution platform for converged TV, have entered into a definitive agreement in which Innovid will acquire TVSquared in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $160 million.

With the industry calling for a more transparent and accountable TV ecosystem, the deal establishes a new currency-grade standard for cross-platform measurement, powered by the scale and automation of an independent global ad server. 

“In acquiring TVSquared, we aim to provide the most complete view of the total TV and digital universe through a scalable, currency-grade measurement platform,” said Zvika Netter, CEO and Co-Founder of Innovid. “Additionally, we immediately accelerate and broaden our scope globally, as brands, agencies, publishers, and broadcasters on six continents rely on TVSquared to maximize reach, identify the right audiences and drive business growth with TV. As the market demands greater accountability, Innovid and TVSquared are reimagining the future of cross-platform TV measurement together.”   

“By digitizing cross-platform TV advertising, we believe this combination will give advertisers, across the ecosystem, everything they need to transact at scale,” said Jo Kinsella, President, TVSquared. “Together, TVSquared and Innovid are at the center of TV’s transformation, meeting the market’s needs for a converged TV measurement alternative.” 

“Innovid and TVSquared share complementary visions to transform TV measurement through a comprehensive view of audiences across all devices and platforms worldwide,” said Calum Smeaton, CEO and Founder, TVSquared. “Joining forces establishes a cross-platform measurement solution that maps one of the largest datasets of audiences, homes, and devices, at scale, across linear, CTV, and digital video.”

Upon closing, Smeaton will be stepping down as TVSquared CEO to take on a strategy role in support of the integration with Innovid. TVSquared’s president, Kinsella, who has been with the company almost since its inception will join the Innovid executive team, reporting into Netter and leading the measurement business. 

The combined entity will represent buy-and sell-side customers and process billions of impressions events daily. The joint offering will include ad serving, creative personalization and optimization, outcomes and audience measurement, including reach, frequency and unique unduplicated reach, for the total TV and digital universe.

The TVSquared acquisition is expected to close by the end of Innovid’s fiscal second quarter, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. All financial information for TVSquared is prepared under UK GAAP which may not be comparable to financial results prepared under US GAAP. TVSquared was advised by LUMA Partners.  

Management will hold a conference call to discuss the acquisition, Q4 and Full Year 2021 financial results on February 24 at 8:30 a.m. EST. Speakers will include Zvika Netter, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Tanya Andreev-Kaspin, Chief Financial Officer, and Tal Chalozin, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer.

Blippar closes $5 million pre-Series A funding round

Blippar, the leading Augmented Reality (AR) technology company, today announced it has closed a $5 million funding round.  

The pre-Series A round was co-led by Chroma Ventures, Chris van der Kuyl and Paddy Burns’ investment arm, and West Coast Capital; the private equity arm of Scottish entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter and family. Canadian entrepreneur Anthony Lacavera also contributed to the round through his Globalive Capital investment firm.

The new investment reinforces Blippar’s position as the global leader in AR and will be used to further develop the company’s industry-leading technology and accelerate its growth in key markets including the US, Europe and Asia.

Faisal Galaria, CEO of Blippar, commented: “We are very excited to have attracted investors of this calibre to Blippar. Not only is this a solid vote of confidence in Blippar’s technology from some of the most highly regarded industry veterans and business minds, but it also demonstrates sustained validation of the UK tech sector post-Brexit.

“2020 was a transformative year for Blippar with a 200% increase in revenue quarter on quarter, continued strengthening of the senior leadership team, and delivery of cutting-edge AR campaigns for major global brands including OnePlus, Kellogg’s and Dr Pepper. We have leveraged our 10 years of investment, provenance, and technology leadership in the AR space to come back leaner, more focussed and better than ever before.”

Chroma Ventures, West Coast Capital, and Globalive Capital join existing shareholder Candy Ventures; the multi-stage investment firm founded by British entrepreneur Nick Candy. 

Gaming pioneers Chris van der Kuyl and Paddy Burns of 4J Studios are best known for developing Minecraft for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo games consoles.  Over the last 25 years, Chris’ success, profile and contribution in building technology, media and entertainment businesses has been prolific, and Paddy has been at the heart of the games industry for over 25 years. This week, the two entrepreneurs launched Chroma Ventures, a new investment arm for their diverse and growing portfolio of investments, to channel flexible capital into a range of early-stage and established businesses with high-growth potential.

Chris Van Der Kuyl of Chroma Ventures commented: “The immersive nature of AR makes it one of the most important use cases for the gaming industry. Blippar’s AR technology is by far the most advanced and innovative that I’ve seen in years and there is huge potential for AR to power the ultimate gaming experience of the future. We look forward to being part of the Blippar journey.”

West Coast Capital holds a number of major investments in property, e-commerce and data analytics, and was an early investor in The Hut Group. Sir Tom Hunter commented: “Blippar has demonstrated strong progress with the turnaround plan put in place by Faisal and the team, and the business is now well placed to maximise the opportunities presented by the growing AR ecosystem hence we are delighted to invest.”

Anthony Lacavera is credited with changing the face of Canada’s communications technology landscape. He was the founder of WIND; one of Canada’s four mobile operators, and other leading telecoms businesses including Yak and OneConnect. He is the founder and Chairman of Globalive – a global investment firm that has raised over CAD$2 billion in the telecommunications industry. Over the past 15 years, Globalive Capital has invested in over 100 companies in the tech, media and telecoms industries and has 45 companies currently in its venture portfolio.  

Anthony Lacavera commented: “We partner, invest and build companies that are committed to innovating and developing technology to improve and change industries. Blippar is exactly the kind of business we get excited about. With the AR tech stack now available on over 4 billion mobile phones and with 5G rolling out globally, the timing for AR is now. Blippar is incredibly well positioned to lead the transition from a 2D to an immersive 3D world  leveraging its experience in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, AI in addition to Augmented Reality.”

The UK Government also secured a minority equity stake in Blippar in 2020 through the Future Fund match funding scheme, further validating Blippar’s status as a leading innovative UK technology company.

THG TO CREATE HUNDREDS OF JOBS IN THE NORTH WEST AS THE REGION IS HIT HARD BY THE PANDEMIC’S SECOND WAVE

The Manchester-based technology business, THG, is announcing that between now and the end of the year it will create a further 500 permanent jobs across its business in the North West of England, as it approaches its peak trading period. The recruitment drive will offer opportunities for a huge variety of roles across the region, on top of the 2,000 new roles the business has already created in the last 12 months. 

The majority of positions will be in the Group’s technology services division, THG Ingenuity, which has seen rapid growth in demand over the past 12 months, as an increasing number of businesses look to diversify and enhance their direct-to-consumer capabilities.  

Matthew Moulding, Founder, CEO and Chairman of THG: “It is an uncertain time for many people and businesses alike. This uncertainty has led to an unprecedented opportunity for THG to add to our exceptionally talented workforce. With our busiest trading period of the year approaching, we are excited to welcome 500 new starters ahead of Christmas.  

“Our headquarters are in Manchester, and this recruitment drive will create sustainable and rewarding jobs for people across the North West, and will provide opportunities for all ages, backgrounds and abilities. There has never been a greater or more important time to invest in the people of Greater Manchester and the surrounding area.”  

THG is also working with local partners to launch an in-house Skills Academy, to retrain people who are out of work as a result of the ongoing pandemic and offer them sustainable employment.  

Currently THG employs more than 8,000 people across its global offices and fulfilment centres, adding more than 2,000 new employees over the past year. Since the beginning of the year, THG has continued to invest heavily in its Graduate and Apprenticeship Programmes, with more than 200 graduates and 120 apprentices joining the business over the last 12 months and plans to more than triple the intake in 2021 across all areas of THG, including Technology, Customer Service, Finance and Operations. 

Job openings at THG can be found at https://www.thg.com/careers/ 

The post THG TO CREATE HUNDREDS OF JOBS IN THE NORTH WEST AS THE REGION IS HIT HARD BY THE PANDEMIC’S SECOND WAVE appeared first on The Hut Group (THG).

THG ACQUIRES LUXURY SKINCARE BRAND PERRICONE MD

THG Holdings plc (“THG” or the “Group”), the global technology platform company, specialising in taking brands direct to consumers, today announces the acquisition of Perricone MD, a pre-eminent US prestige skincare brand, for $60 million in cash. 

Founded in 1997, Perricone MD is a science-led topical skincare brand.  Its skincare formulations and supplements address a broad range of dermatological needs, supported by extensive clinical and consumer studies.  The brand has approximately 100 product patents and is committed to no-animal testing, clean ingredients and gluten free formulations. 

As the digital-strategic leader in the beauty market, the Group is able to be extremely selective with acquisitions and it has acquired 100% of Perricone MD for a 1x continuing sales multiple. Perricone MD is profitable at the EBITDA level although THG anticipates minimal impact in the current financial year. As Perricone MD is transitioned by THG Ingenuity into a digital-first and global brand it is expected to be earnings accretive by the end of the financial year 2021, achieving double digit EBITDA margins consistent with previous THG Beauty brand acquisitions. 

Perricone MD will join the Group’s Beauty portfolio of own brands, which includes ESPA, Christophe Robin, Grow Gorgeous, Illamasqua, Mio Skincare, Mama Mio, Eyeko and Ameliorate. 

“Perricone MD has a strong heritage, a loyal customer base and is a truly exciting addition to THG’s beauty portfolio,” said Matthew Moulding, Founder, Chairman and CEO of THG. “The online beauty and skincare sector is growing rapidly, and this acquisition enables us to further strengthen our position as the world’s leading pure-play speciality beauty brand owner and retailer.”  

THG’s stated Beauty M&A strategy is to acquire industry-leading brands and intellectual property, typically constrained by store-based retail channels and limited geographic reach. Through immediate implementation of THG’s Ingenuity Platform, Brands gain direct access to consumers across the globe. This enables THG’s Brands to reach a truly global audience, whilst directly controlling every element of the consumer experience and delivering materially accretive margins.   

Mr. Moulding added: “Perricone MD will now benefit from the powerful and sustainable infrastructure of THG Ingenuity, which has a proven track record of scaling revenues and enhancing the margins of acquired brands.” 

THG has been executing this own brand beauty acquisition strategy for the last four years, with over 50% of revenues across its existing portfolio of seven existing beauty brands now generated from direct-to-consumer sales globally online. 

Lookfantastic has been an important long-term partner for Perricone MD, enabling THG to build a significant understanding of the brand over many years. In the last 12 months, Perricone MD has seen very significant sales growth on Lookfantastic, which has given further confidence in the acquisition rationale of the brand. 

Immediately post acquisition, THG will launch Perricone MD on its THG Ingenuity technology platform, delivering the following benefits: 

• A proprietary, end-to-end platform: trading, merchandising, marketing, real-time data 

• 14 THG fulfilment centres globally, powered by proprietary management software  
• 180+ integrated couriers reaching 195+ destinations, with express delivery for key markets  
• 29 data centres globally ensuring rapid website speeds across all key markets 
• 50+ payment options across 40 currencies, localising consumer payment options  
• 7 content studios delivering digital brand building and content creation (THG Studios) 

• In-house digital marketing and a proprietary influencer platform (THG Society) 
• 6,000 native linguist network delivering specialised translation services (THG Fluently) 
• Proprietary fraud prevention platform, featuring device fingerprinting, data matching against known fraud, API capability and business intelligence tools (THG Detect) 
• International customer service, with integrated translation services and with communication via email, live chat, iMessage, WhatsApp, Weibo, ABC, Revoo and other local platforms 
• In-house product development and manufacturing (BRC A Grade, FDA-approved)  

In line with THG’s broader strategy, the Group also remains focused on making investments across technology, sustainability and infrastructure. The purpose of these investments will be to further enhance its unique-end-to-end ecommerce platform, delivering digital and sustainability transformation programmes for 3^rd party brands, in addition to powering THG’s own brands.   

THG intends to report its first trading update (covering Q3 2020) to the market on 26^th October 2020. 

ENDS 

For more information, please contact: 

Notes to Editors 

About THG  

THG is an international online retailer and technology company. Founded in 2004 by CEO Matthew Moulding, Manchester-based THG now operates 200+ localised websites, retailing goods in 169 countries. In the year to 31 December 2019, the Group grew sales by 24% to £1.14bn, with 66% of sales generated internationally. More than half of THG’s sales come from its own brand products. THG owns Lookfantastic and Myprotein amongst other brands operating primarily in the beauty and wellbeing sector. 

About THG Ingenuity 

THG Ingenuity is THG’s end-to-end ecommerce platform, powering THG’s own business as well as those of brands and retailers around the world. THG Ingenuity comprises access to THG’s international infrastructure across warehouse fulfilment, digital content studios and event spaces, an end-to-end proprietary software solution required to operate and scale retail brands, and a suite of in-house consultative and management services across trading, marketing and brand strategy. It is one of the only platforms that is underpinned by proven expertise as it has demonstrably scaled brands globally and now powers 3^rd party brands on a SAAS basis. 

THG Ingenuity is partnered with leading retailers across the globe, including Groupe L’Occitane, PZ Cussons Beauty and Nintendo. THG Ingenuity helped the Group dispatch over 80 million items during the year ended 31 December 2019 to customers across the world and saw THG reach the top of the Sunday Times profit track for two consecutive years. 

The post THG ACQUIRES LUXURY SKINCARE BRAND PERRICONE MD appeared first on The Hut Group (THG).

THG Ingenuity announces 5-year partnership with Hotel Chocolat

THG Ingenuity, the Technology Services division of THG Holdings plc (“THG” or the “Group”), a global technology platform, specialising in taking brands direct to consumers, today announces a five-year partnership with Hotel Chocolat, the UK based luxury chocolatier. The agreement will launch the brand’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) offering in the United States, with the retailer accessing the full suite of services offered by THG Ingenuity.     

This digital partnership aligns Hotel Chocolat’s expansion strategy into the US market with THG Ingenuity’s cross-border expertise. THG Ingenuity will provide its enablement platform to the premium retailer, along with digital brand services and a complete fulfilment solution including chilled storage distribution. With the US Cocoa and Chocolate Market set to reach US$ 67.22bn by 2025* this new partnership will ensure Hotel Chocolat is well positioned to meet increased demand.  

By offering a DTC platform, the brand can build a more personalised relationship with its US-based customers and has the potential to generate a long-term, sustainable presence online. THG Ingenuity’s brand-building services will also provide trading and marketing expertise as well as performance solutions and technological support.   

THG Ingenuity’s chilled fulfilment network offers the option for product personalisation as well as the use of several US warehouses to offer favourable delivery times to customers across the region. This network includes capabilities for customers based in New York and Los Angeles with next-day delivery available across both the east and west coast. 

In this new partnership, THG Ingenuity will deliver the following benefits: 

• A proprietary, end-to-end platform with fully integrated trading, merchandising, marketing modules, real-time data feeds and a single customer view
• Multiple THG fulfilment centres across the US, including California, Texas, Kentucky, and Florida 
• In-house digital marketing services across proprietary marketing and influencer platforms, which includes access to a network of over 10,000 active influencers (THG Society)
• Proprietary fraud prevention platform, featuring device fingerprinting, data matching against known fraud, API capability and business intelligence tools (THG Detect)
• International customer service, with integrated translation services and with communication via email, live chat, iMessage, WhatsApp, Weibo, ABC, Revoo and other local platforms

Matthew Moulding, Founder, Chairman and CEO of THG said: “We are proud to announce this partnership with Hotel Chocolat, bringing our DTC and ecommerce capabilities to this renowned UK retailer and helping it to reach an international audience. It comes at a particularly crucial time for the British retail sector, when brands must flex in response to the constantly evolving environment.

“Hotel Chocolat will now benefit from the powerful and scalable infrastructure of THG Ingenuity, joining a host of other third-party clients and our own brands that have achieved global growth through our proven model.” 

Brendan Drake, CEO of Hotel Chocolat inc, said: “We are excited to announce our partnership to help accelerate the digital growth of the brand in the USA.

“THG Ingenuity offers an end to end solution for e-commerce and digital supply chain with the potential to build meaningful scale.”

THG Ingenuity recently confirmed a digital transformation partnership with Homebase, migrating the brand’s traditional approach to retail to a DTC solution. The partnership with Hotel Chocolat will similarly allow the brand to respond more directly to changes in consumer buying behaviour, by expanding into new markets utilising THG Ingenuity’s end-to-end approach.

* https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/06/26/1874567/0/en/Cocoa-and-Chocolate-Market-to-Reach-US-67-22-Bn-by-2025-Recent-Emphasis-on-Health-as-well-as-Flavor-to-Enable-Growth-says-Fortune-Business-Insights.html

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Notes to Editors

About THG

THG is an international online retailer and technology company. Founded in 2004 by CEO Matthew Moulding, Manchester-based THG now operates 200+ localised websites, retailing goods in 169 countries. In the year to 31 December 2019, the Group grew sales by 24% to £1.14bn, with 66% of sales generated internationally. More than half of THG’s sales come from its own brand products. THG owns Lookfantastic and Myprotein amongst other brands operating primarily in the beauty and wellbeing sector.

About THG Ingenuity

THG Ingenuity is THG’s end-to-end ecommerce platform, powering THG’s own business as well as those of brands and retailers around the world. THG Ingenuity comprises access to THG’s international infrastructure across warehouse fulfilment, digital content studios and event spaces, an end-to-end proprietary software solution required to operate and scale retail brands, and a suite of in-house consultative and management services across trading, marketing and brand strategy. It is one of the only platforms that is underpinned by proven expertise as it has demonstrably scaled brands globally and now powers 3^rd party brands on a SAAS basis.

THG Ingenuity is partnered with leading retailers across the globe, including Groupe L’Occitane, PZ Cussons Beauty and Nintendo. THG Ingenuity helped the Group dispatch over 80 million items during the year ended 31 December 2019 to customers across the world and saw THG reach the top of the Sunday Times profit track for two consecutive years.

The post THG Ingenuity announces 5-year partnership with Hotel Chocolat appeared first on The Hut Group (THG).

THG INGENUITY AND HOMEBASE AGREE 10 YEAR D2C DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PARTNERSHIP

THG Ingenuity, the Ecommerce Services division of THG, today announces a 10-year partnership with Homebase in a multi-million-pound deal to digitally transform the British home and garden retailer. 

Homebase will have access to THG Ingenuity’s proprietary end-to-end ecommerce solution to replace current systems, including web development and hosting, a global fulfilment and payment infrastructure, digital channel and proposition management, brand building and strategy, alongside the production of digital first content from THG’s content studios.  

Teaming THG Ingenuity’s digital strength with the in-store knowledge and heritage of Homebase will create a scalable, immersive omni-channel opportunity for the retailer, boosting its direct to consumer (“D2C”) potential in the UK and internationally, launching the fully integrated proposition from early 2021. The end-to-end and fully integrated solution will deliver a seamless customer experience through operations and data including reserve in store, endless aisle, loyalty, digital kiosk and personalisation.  

This major long-term partnership with Homebase is part of THG Ingenuity’s strategy to expand in the home retail sector; a predominantly offline industry that presents a huge potential for digital growth via ecommerce in better supporting a frictionless customer purchase journey between instore and online.  

THG Ingenuity is THG’s proprietary, end-to-end technology and operating platform that has enabled the group to successfully build and scale its own global, D2C brands, including Myprotein and lookfantastic. THG Ingenuity’s third-party clients include Nestle and PZ Cussons. 

Matthew Moulding, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of THG, said: “We are incredibly excited to be working with one of the UK’s biggest players in the home and garden retail sector and there is huge potential for us to grow Homebase’s D2C capabilities with our proven infrastructure and services.  

“The global retail landscape is changing and the current climate has accelerated digital plans for many businesses. This partnership is testament to the strength and reputation of THG Ingenuity to deliver a world-leading ecommerce solution that can power businesses of all sizes, in the UK and globally.” 

Damian McGloughlin, CEO of Homebase, comments: “This partnership will significantly fast-forward our digital plans and create an incredible new shopping experience for customers. We have a unique opportunity to move with the rapidly changing retail landscape, and leapfrog ahead to an experience that exceeds customers’ demands for online shopping that’s both easy and inspirational. We’ll combine the best of bricks-and-mortar with The Hut Group’s world-class expertise, to advise, excite and inspire our customers with new ways of shopping we know they’ll love.” 

ENDS 

For more information, please contact: 

The Hut Group (THG): Viki Tahmasebi, viki.tahmasebi@thehutgroup.com, 07966 028340 

M&C Saatchi Public Relations – on behalf of Homebase: Flick Hudson, HomebasePR@mcsaatchi.com,  

07809 463567 

Homebase: Claire Abercrombie, claire.abercrombie@homebase.co.uk, 07753 310573 

Notes to Editors 

About The Hut Group 

The Hut Group (THG) is an international online retailer and technology company. Founded in 2004 by CEO Matthew Moulding, Manchester-based THG now operates 178 localised websites, retailing goods in 169 countries. In the year to 31 December 2019, the Group grew sales by 24% to £1.14bn, with 66% of sales generated internationally. More than half of THG’s sales come from its own brand products. THG owns Lookfantastic and Myprotein amongst other brands operating primarily in the beauty and wellbeing sector. 

About THG Ingenuity 

THG Ingenuity is THG’s end-to-end ecommerce platform, powering THG’s own business as well as those of brands and retailers around the world. THG Ingenuity comprises access to THG’s international infrastructure across warehouse fulfilment, digital content studios and event spaces, an end-to-end proprietary software solution required to operate and scale retail brands, and a suite of in-house consultative and management services across trading, marketing and brand strategy. It is one of the only platforms that is underpinned by proven expertise as it has demonstrably scaled brands globally and now powers 3rd party brands on a SAAS basis. 

THG Ingenuity is partnered with leading retailers across the globe, including Johnson & Johnson, Groupe L’Occitane, PZ Cussons Beauty and Nintendo. THG Ingenuity helped the Group dispatch over 80 million items during the year ended 31 December 2019 to customers across the world and saw THG reach the top of the Sunday Times profit track for two consecutive years. 

About Homebase 

Founded in 1979, Homebase is a home and garden projects retailer offering customers the inspiration, expertise and products to create a home they love – all in one place. 

Its wide range of products covers garden, decorating, home furnishings, kitchens and bathrooms, alongside complementary concessions from some of the UK’s leading brands. Inspirational new store layouts are helping millions of customers combine on-trend collections with the project ideas, practical advice, partners and tools to bring their home and garden visions to life. 

Homebase operates 164 stores and 23 standalone Bathstores employing over 6,600 people across the UK and Ireland, whose specialist knowledge sits at the heart of the friendly and inspiring in-store experience Homebase offers its customers. 

The post THG INGENUITY AND HOMEBASE AGREE 10 YEAR D2C DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PARTNERSHIP appeared first on The Hut Group (THG).

Sky Partners with TVSquared to Show True Picture of TV Effectiveness

Innovative Tech Helps Advertisers Directly Track Linear, On-Demand and Addressable TV Campaigns to Online Visits and Performance

Sky Media, the advertising sales arm of Sky, has announced its partnership with TVSquared, a global leader in TV attribution, to launch a market-leading direct web attribution tool across linear, on-demand and addressable TV advertising campaigns. 

Bringing together TV viewing and web tracking data, Sky Media provides its advertisers and brands with an unprecedented picture of how TV drives interest, consideration, and sales performance. Advertisers and brands with Sky Media can measure the exact impact a TV campaign has in generating interest and subsequent traffic to a brand’s website and apps, answering longstanding questions from marketers.

Sky Media’s unrivalled viewing panel will link to an advertiser’s online analytics to track with complete certainty where audiences have come from. Brands will have full assurance who has visited an app or website after seeing a TV advert, which marks a clear improvement on existing methods that focus only on correlating increases in website traffic to TV spots. This enables brands to measure mid-funnel consideration and intent goals, link TV exposure to online response and directly understand the customer journey. All of this will be available to view via Sky Analytics, Sky Media’s self-serve reporting tool, allowing brands to plan and reactively adapt in real time.

“TV continues to remain the most trusted and impactful way for brands to engage current and future customers, illustrated by the growing number of digital native brands turning to TV. Being able to directly measure the impact TV has on driving web traffic and the resulting sales will be an immensely powerful tool. It’s really exciting to see the results for these campaigns come through. Our emerging insights show that there is a 50-100% increase in web visits attributed to TV versus traditional models. Clearly that means TV’s impact on advertising performance has been wildly underestimated,” said Dev Sangani, Director of Strategy and Capability, Sky Media. 

Powered by TVSquared, Direct Web Attribution will be available across linear, on-demand, and addressable TV campaigns via AdSmart, with sponsorship being added in the coming months. Using TVSquared’s platform, Sky Media advertisers can easily access attribution, reach, frequency and reach extension analytics for their TV campaigns.

“Sky Media has always been at the forefront of providing advanced technology offerings to its advertisers, and this partnership continues that path of innovation,” said Calum Smeaton, CEO and Founder, TVSquared. “TV can be measured and optimised with a focus on business outcomes – and Sky Media and TVSquared are enabling that for thousands of advertisers at scale today. This is an impactful and transformative change that is moving the TV ad market forward, not only in the UK, but worldwide.”

With access to this new capability, advertisers with Sky Media can:

• Quantify TV’s impact on the full-funnel outcomes that matter most to them — from website traffic, to intent, consideration and even sales
• See performance and cost-effectiveness for addressable and linear TV – including media dimensions such as audience and creative, days, dayparts, networks, programmes and genres 
• Reveal insights to inform ROI-positive optimisations, planning and more targeted buys