Business

Howitt chief executive Nick Dixon has announced the formal marriage of the direct mail printer with its three sister companies to create a new marketing services provider, Lateral Group.

The group’s creation marks the culmination of four years of organic and acquisition-led growth at Howitt, stretching back to its purchase by Dixon, Rick Taylor and Mike Hunter in 2004, after which came a gradual expansion beyond its pure print heritage.

Dixon said: "The launch of Lateral Group is the pinnacle of several years of solid investment, hard work and determination from the man­­age­­­­ment team.

"With Lateral, clients can draw on the talent of established specialists in each of their areas. Collectively, we offer a comprehensive marketing communications management service, from start to finish.

"Our marketing communications management model provides a framework for understanding today’s consumers and optimising marketing strategies to meet the needs of the client and the consumer."

Comprised of direct mail printer Howitt, multi-channel management company Dialogue Solutions, database management and analysis firm Data Lateral and email and mobile market­­ing outfit Shift Click, Lateral aims to be a "one-stop shop for marketing communications".

Although all four companies previously operated as separate entities, the merger of the group’s services followed a period of successful cross-selling between them.

Lateral Group’s collective expertise covers input, including data analytics, customer profiling and channel optimisation, through to multi-channel output, including web, mobile and print.

Dixon said the aim of the company was to fill what he sees as "a hole in the market for an integrated marketing communications management specialist".

Dixon will be chief executive of the new group, while Gurdev Singh, Jeremy Walters and Ruaraidh Thomas continue as managing director of Howitt, Dialogue Solutions, and Data Lateral and Shift Click respectively.

HOWITT GROUP TIMELINE

2004 Nick Dixon, Rick Taylor and Mike Hunter buy Howitt out of administration
2005 Howitt creates Dialogue Solutions from Eden Lithographic Reproduction (ELR) acquisition; Howitt forms Data Lateral following Vertis Marketing Technology acquisition
2008 Shift Click launched as spin-off from Data Lateral; Lateral Group launched comprising Howitt, Data Lateral, Dialogue Solutions and Shift Click