By Norman Silvester For The Scottish Daily Mail
23:18 21 Jul 2024, updated 23:18 21 Jul 2024
The cost of buying a house in Scotland is going through the roof with homes selling better than properties south of the Border –including London.
Scottish house prices have shown an average increase of £6,868 in the past year, compared to £4,215 in England and Wales, according to new figures.
Stirling had the highest rise of £24,666; Edinburgh was up by £12,862; West Dunbartonshire £12,507; Clackmannanshire £10,454; and Argyll and Bute £9,557.
However not every part of Scotland is benefiting from the property boom.
Prices in previously oil-rich Aberdeen dropped by £1,124 between June 2023 and May 2024, while Dumfries and Galloway also experienced a fall. Estate Agents DJ Alexander say the average price of a house in Scotland has jumped from £184,567 to £191,435 in the past year.
Chief Executive David Alexander added: ‘The Scottish housing market has remained remarkably resilient over the last few years.
‘An increase of £6,868 equates to a 3.7 per cent rise over the year at a time when interest rates remain high and amid continued concern over the sluggish performance of the economy.
‘Despite all these factors almost every part of Scotland recorded an increase in average prices with four areas recording a rise of over £10,000 during the 12 months.’
Mr Alexander continued: ‘Edinburgh and Glasgow and their surrounding areas remain popular with high demand resulting in rising prices.
‘These figures indicate a housing market that remains robust and buoyant particularly in comparison to our neighbours south of the Border.
‘With interest rates likely to fall in the coming months, employment remaining high, and utility costs falling, these increases in Scottish house prices are likely to continue in the coming year.’
It is the latest good news for those selling their properties. In May, Savills predicted house prices in Scotland would grow at almost twice the rate of those in London over the next five years.
The estate agent forecast the value of the average property here will increase by 25.8 per cent by 2028, compared to a 14.2 per cent rise in London.
This would add around £47,000 on to the value of a typical house. Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said: ‘The outlook for 2024 has improved since our last forecasts as mortgage costs have nudged down slightly and are much less volatile.
‘The outlook for economic growth has also slightly improved, pointing to modest house price growth this year, with greater potential over the next few years.’
Another factor that has led to local spikes in prices is the election of the new UK Government.
Earlier this month it emerged areas with Scotland’s top state schools have seen property prices boom ahead of Labour’s tax raid on private schools.
East Renfrewshire, which has four schools in Scotland’s top ten for performance, is now one of the most expensive places in the country to buy property, with an average home costing £339,059.
Kay Blair, director of south Glasgow sales for estate agent Rettie, said: ‘The sale of larger family homes in these areas is driven by the school catchment area. It’s pretty mental at the moment.’
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- The Office for National Statistics has released its latest House Price Index
- Regionally, Yorkshire and the Humber had the strongest average growth
UK homeowners saw the price of their properties increase in value by an average of £6,000 last year, data suggests.
One London borough registered a hike of almost £30,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Online estate agent Purplebricks has developed an interactive calculator that allows MailOnline readers to look up their area and see the strength of the housing market locally.
Across the UK, houses increased in value by 2.2 per cent in the 12 months up to May, compared with 1.3 per cent in the twelve months to April.
Now, the average home costs £285,000 across the UK but breaches the £300,000 barrier in England.
Regionally, the biggest increase was reported in Yorkshire and the Humber (3.9 per cent).
Across London, average prices have increased by 0.2 per cent over the previous 12 months, although there are significant variations across the capital.
The City of Westminster itself saw prices fall the most nationwide, plunging 22.7 per cent to £933,000.
Prices fell by a similar amount in Hammersmith and Fulham (down 22.6 per cent to £727,000).
Yet prices rocketed by 4,9 per cent in Merton, a borough in the south of the capital that includes Wimbledon. The average property in the area is now worth £587,986.
Outside of London, Merthyr Tydfil in Wales saw home prices drop by 14.5 per cent.
Scotland, meanwhile, logged the highest percentage increases, with a rise of 13.3 per cent in Stirling.
In England alone, Bath and North East Somerset saw properties gain the most value.
Properties in the region enjoyed an annual price rise of £44,910 in the 12 months to May, marking a 10 per cent rise.
Vale of White Horse homeowners were also big winners. Homes in the Oxfordshire district shot up £41,633 or 9.8 per cent over the last year.
Across the entirety of the UK, average house prices increased in value by £4,000 in Northern Ireland and Scotland (up 4 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively).
Prices jumped by £5,000 in Wales (up 2.4 per cent).
Across England, the 12-month increase registered in May was 2.2 per cent – double the 1.1 per cent annual jump logged the previous month. Average prices now stand at £302,000.
Purplebricks CEO Sam Mitchell said: ‘Homeowners appear reassured by the arrival of the new government, and the stability that brings to the market.
‘Things will only get more positive if Labour makes early progress on their pledge to build 1.5million new homes.
‘That influx of new properties will help first-time buyers get their first foot on the ladder, in turn creating movement across the entire market.
‘Early indications already suggest demand is returning to market after a period of hesitancy while the general election and Euros were on. Interest rates are also being cut in anticipation of a Bank of England rate cut in August or September.’
Meanwhile, rental prices slowed. Average private rents across the UK increased by 8.6% in the 12 months to June, edging down from 8.7 per cent in the 12 months to May.
In June, the average private rent in Britain was £1,271 per month. This was £101 higher than 12 months earlier.
ONS figures also indicated on Wednesday that UK inflation held steady in June. The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation remained unchanged at 2 per cent.
This means that prices are still rising but at a rate that the Bank of England is comfortable with, after nearly three years of above-target inflation.
Richard Harrison, head of mortgages at Atom bank said: ‘The fact that the ONS has now reported three months of straight house price increases is a good indication of the growing confidence in the market.’
He added: ‘Eyes will now turn to the Bank of England, and when it will look to start reducing bank base rate, as reduced rates will also serve to boost buyer confidence. With inflation continuing to move in the right direction, it’s simply a question of when, not if.’
David Hollingworth, associate director at broker L&C Mortgages, said: ‘The rate of inflation held steady at the Bank of England’s target rate of 2% in June.
‘That is positive news and another month’s reading at the Bank’s target rate will buoy the hopes of those wanting a base rate cut sooner rather than later.
‘However, many anticipated a further, even if slight, decline in inflation this month and the likelihood of (a Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee) decision to cut in August will remain in the balance.
‘Although borrowers can still expect to see base rate fall this year, they should also be prepared for rates to be held a little longer.
‘On the upside, mortgage rates have been improving in recent weeks.
‘A flurry of price changes is gradually helping to drag fixed rates down, albeit slowly. As long as today’s figures don’t disappoint markets, we should see that trend continue.
‘Competition is fierce in the market which has seen lenders regularly edging rates back down, unwinding increases in recent months.
‘Lenders often have little margin to play with, so any move in market rates can have an impact on fixed rate pricing in either direction.
‘Today’s figures are not likely to add any additional boost to the recent cuts in mortgage rates but nor should they disturb the current level.’
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Overall, the success of Paddy Power’s Danny Dyer-fronted Euros campaign demonstrates the importance of carefully selecting the right celebrity, timing, and creative in a brand partnership. When these elements align, they can create a powerful and effective marketing campaign that resonates with audiences.
In this campaign, the BBH associate creative directors Luke Till and Lawrence Bushel’s choice of Danny Dyer as the featured talent was crucial. As an English actor known for his humour and energy, he was the perfect fit for the tone of the campaign. The timing and the theme of the partnership, just ahead of the Euros, allowed the ad to tap into the excitement and conversation surrounding the tournament.
The creative obviously played a vital role in its success too. The campaign leveraged humour to poke fun at England fans in a lighthearted way, effectively capturing attention and generating positive reviews. The combination of Danny Dyer’s comedic talent, engaging storytelling, and clever messaging contributed to the commercial’s impact and memorability.
Charlie Phillips, founder and executive producer at production company MindsEye, states, “Having Danny Dyer, who is essentially a man of the people, suited the Paddy Power campaign perfectly and helped galvanise the country to get behind England. The self-deprecating tone is a great way to show that we don’t take ourselves too seriously as a country, even if we do desperately want England to finally deliver us the success we crave!”
The campaign received overwhelmingly positive reviews across the board. Sports advertising typically receives an average of 2.4 stars on System1’s rankings, with the 2021 and 2024 Euro adverts achieving an average of 3.0 stars. This year, Danny Dyer’s Paddy Power ad took top spot, reaching a maximum 5.9 star rating, something typically done by just 1% of all adverts. The campaign was David Reviews ‘Pick of the Day’, also picking up a five-star rating. According to data from market research company Kantar, the ad achieved a score of 84 out of 100, putting it in the top 17% of ads in their database. The advert is the most searched for on Paddy Power’s YouTube channel and has become their most successful campaign in the last eight years.
Leah Spears, Paddy Power’s head of brand strategy, remarks, “Paddy Power is a brand that likes to stay topical and on the pulse, so more often than not we’re working to some pretty tight timings, but the Bourne Consultancy rose to the challenge for us and turned it around in record time.” She adds that “working with Danny meant we were able to perfectly capture the huge sense of anticipation going into this year’s Euros – not just for English supporters but for football fans from all corners of the continent. ‘Everyone’s Favourites’ really has been everyone’s favourite this summer thanks to the amazing collaboration we had with Melsie and the whole team behind this.”
By considering all these key factors, the Danny Dyer x Paddy Power commercial was able to create a powerful and successful brand partnership that resonated with audiences and certainly achieved its marketing objectives. Now, let’s hope that same success is replicated today when the England team takes on The Netherlands in the semi-finals.
A new interactive map has shown that house prices in the UK have increased on average by £3,000 over the 12 months to April.
Data released today by the Office of National Statistics has shown average UK house price increased by 1.1 per cent in the year to April, accelerating from 0.9 per cent annual growth in the 12 months to March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It was the second month in a row with an annual increase in prices, following eight months of annual falls.
Research from online estate agency Purplebricks showed wide variations across the country, with prices in some areas declining while others are surging ahead.
As a result of the increase, the average price of a house in the UK is £281,000, with Scotland recording a 4.5 per cent increase.
In Edinburgh, a 6.7 per cent rise over the 12-month period has resulted in houses costing an extra £22,099, pushing the value to almost £330,000.
Across England, the average increase in the price of a house has been £894 over the past month, with an average price of £298,229.
According to Purplebricks: ‘West Oxfordshire was the English area to see the biggest annual price increase. Properties gained 7.8 per cent or £31,092, making the average property now worth £398,625.’
In London, the situation is less positive, with houses decreasing in value by an average of 3.9 per cent, reducing to £501,880.
According to the analysis, 27 out of 32 London boroughs have recorded a drop in house prices. Properties in Kensington and Chelsea have recorded 17.6 per cent declines over the past year – representing a paper loss of £195,311.
In Westminster, the price of an average house has dropped below the £1m mark, sitting at £969,572.
Purplebricks CEO Sam Mitchell said: ‘It is testament to the strength of property demand which continues to grow despite the dual distractions of a general election and the Euros.
‘Today’s House Price Index gives homeowners more to celebrate, with property values continuing to climb across most of the UK.
‘The average UK homeowner is around £3,000 better off today, after another 1.1 per cent increase over the last 12 months.’
The figures were released as data from the ONS showed that Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation slowed to 2 per cent in May, down from 2.3 per cent in April.
Experts predict that, despite inflation returning to target, the Bank of England is still likely to hold fire on any interest rate cuts – which could help to ease mortgage rates – until after the General Election on July 4.
The Bank’s next interest rate decision is on Thursday.
CPI was last recorded at 2 per cent in July 2021, later hitting a 40-year high of 11.1 per cent in October 2022.
ONS figures released on Wednesday show house prices rose by 0.6 per cent in England, 0.4 per cent in Wales and by 4.5 per cent in Scotland in the 12 months to April.
In Northern Ireland, property values increased by 4.0 per cent annually in the first quarter of the year.
Average UK private rents increased by 8.7 per cent in the 12 months to May, the ONS said, slowing from an 8.9 per cent annual increase in April and below a record high annual rise of 9.2 per cent in March.
In May, the average private rent in Britain was £1,262 per month, with the highest being in Kensington and Chelsea in London (£3,397), and lowest in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland (£480).
The NRLA yesterday confirmed a new partnership with SDL Property Auctions, an award-winning auctioneer which specialises in helping users to sell a wide range of residential and commercial properties – both tenanted and vacant – across the UK.
SDL Property Auctions sells a wide range of properties in its live streamed National Property Auctions and online Timed Auctions from, vacant houses and building plots, to commercial buildings and development opportunities.
NRLA members will be at the front of the queue for investment opportunities, benefitting from:
- An efficient platform for the buying and selling of residential and commercial properties through its innovative, user-friendly online auction services.
- Access to monthly National Property Auctions which are live streamed online, and which can be viewed free of charge by NRLA members.
- Timed Auctions, which are available on SDL Property Auctions’ website every day.
This partnership is the latest in a series of new agreements the NRLA has recently reached with innovating, specialist organisations tailored to make landlords’ lives easier.
If you’d like to learn more SDL Property Auctions’ services, you can find further details on the website at www.sdlauctions.co.uk.
Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, yesterday said:
“Our new relationship with SDL Property Auctions will ensure our members will be first to benefit from an efficient, effective service provided by a genuine market leader in this area.
“SDL Property Auctions’ expertise in property auctions complements the other top-notch services offered by our other partners perfectly, and we can’t wait to begin working with them.”
Andrew Parker, Auctioneer & Managing Director of SDL Property Auctions, yesterday said:
“We’re delighted to be partnering with the NRLA to provide its growing membership with access to transparent and secure property auctions services.
“We can assist landlords achieve fast and faff-free property sales and purchases to effectively manage their portfolios, whether that’s residential or commercial properties anywhere in the UK.”
Notes to Editors
- You can find further details on SDL Property Auctions’ services on the NRLA website here.
- The NRLA’s press office can be contacted by emailing press@nrla.org.uk or by calling 0300 131 6363.
- Further information about the NRLA can be found at www.nrla.org.uk. It tweets @NRLAssociation.
About the NRLA
The National Residential Landlords Association is the UK’s largest membership organisation for private residential landlords, supporting and representing over 100,000 members. The association was created from the merger of the RLA and NLA in April 2020.
NRLA members range from full-time landlords running property portfolios to those letting single bedroom flats. Whatever their status, most landlords face the same regulatory and legal challenges, with over 170 pieces of legislation creating hundreds of legal obligations for the private residential lettings sector.
We help our members navigate these challenges and proudly offer some of the most comprehensive learning resources and market-leading intelligence available in the sector.
About SDL Property Auctions
At SDL Property Auctions, our award-winning team, sells a wide range of residential and commercial properties – both tenanted and vacant – across the length and breadth of the UK. Our lots range from investment properties, vacant houses, building plots, commercial and mixed-use buildings and more.
Our monthly National Property Auctions are live streamed online – for free and without logging in – from our head office auction studio with a live auctioneer at the rostrum and are open to remote bidding online, on the phone and by proxy.
Saving the world from property woes, one auction at a time.
VIRTUE Worldwide, the leading culture-first creative agency, today announced the launch of PIGEON, an accelerator and strategic consultancy for businesses looking to capture and create value in the culture economy.
The accelerator will operate as part of VIRTUE Worldwide and is fronted by Amy Davies, global VP of foresight, and Jamison Duffield, global group strategy director.
PIGEON is underpinned by a proprietary operating system. This AI-driven, big-data engine is trained to identify interrelated cultural territories that can drive new growth for brands. The engine is able to compare cultural influence between competitors, identify tastemakers and trending cultural nodes over time.
Ultimately, this gives brands a first-mover advantage to occupy cultural spaces before competitors are even aware of them.
Jamison Duffield, global group strategy director and partner, PIGEON, said, “In the new culture economy innovative companies need access to new models to qualify their cultural capital and the territories and communities they have a right to play within. We provide cultural capital analysis, research, foresight and product development to optimise a company’s venture into the new culture economy.”
PIGEON allows clients to act quickly by consulting across a four-stage sprint accelerator:
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Mapping cultural value
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Understanding the needs of active communities, audiences and co-creators
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Strategic foresight planning
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Creating products and services designed to deliver cultural contribution
Amy Davies, global VP of foresight and partner, PIGEON, said, “We work with clients who need action-orientated solutions and foresight to gain a foothold in the new culture economy, today and in the future. PIGEON is set up to identify the right cultural territories and leverage foresight to understand where these cultural influences are heading and to better prepare for what are often uncertain futures.”
PIGEON enables brands to find new high-growth audiences by understanding the links between cultural phenomena and their current audiences. This process surfaces adjacent communities which brands have a genuine right to engage with.
Chris Garbutt, president of VIRTUE Worldwide, said, “Forget advertising that interrupts; we help drive powerful value exchanges between customers and brands. PIGEON is the key to unlocking the culture economy. It opens up new communities for brands to reach and inspire new audiences and go beyond anything they’ve been able to build before.”
PIGEON has now been scaled up and rolled out globally.
![house prices Colourful houses in Notting Hill, west London. The stamp duty holiday announced in 2020 is expected to be extended until the end of June, as part of budget measures to be announced next week by chancellor Rishi Sunak. Picture date: Wednesday February 24, 2021. Photo credit should read: Matt Crossick/Empics](https://ukpropertyguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/UK-house-prices-stall-amid-high-mortgages.jpeg)
House prices in the UK dropped slightly last month as high borrowing costs caused growth in the property market to stall.
The average price for a UK property fell by 0.1% between April and May, according to the Halifax house price index. This meant that he average home was worth £288,688, which was still 1.5% higher than the same month last year.
This follows the Bank of England‘s (BoE) decision to leave UK interest rates on hold at their 16-year high of 5.25% for a sixth consecutive time.
Read more: 10 bargain properties to bag at auction
Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: “Market activity remained resilient throughout the spring months, supported by strong nominal wage growth and some evidence of an improvement in confidence about the economic outlook.
“This has been reflected in a broadly stable picture in terms of property price movements, with the average cost of a property little changed over the last three months.
“A period of relative stability in both house prices and interest rates should give a degree of confidence to both buyers and sellers.”
Separate data from Uswitch showed that the average rate on a two-year fixed deal this week stood at 5.89%, while rates for a five-year deal came in at 5.36%.
The North West is the strongest performing region in the UK, where house prices grew 3.8% on an annual basis in May. The average price of a property in the North West is now £232,258.
Northern Ireland continues to show strong annual growth, up 3.2% in May, pulling back slightly from 3.3% in April.
House prices in Scotland also increased, with a typical property now costing £204,952, up 1.9%. In Wales, house prices grew at a more modest 0.7% to £219,483.
Eastern England recorded the largest decline in annual growth across the UK. House prices there now average £329,853, down 0.8% compared to May last year.
London continues to have the most expensive average price tag, now at £536,821, up marginally by 0.2% compared to last year.
Propertymark CEO Nathan Emerson said: “The housing market seems to be generally moving in the right direction, with house prices going up annually from this time last year.
Read more: Best UK mortgage deals of the week
“With a general election now on the horizon, there may be potential caution from buyers and sellers, especially those hoping to step onto the housing ladder for the first time, as they await any announcements regarding government support. People will also be carefully awaiting the Bank of England’s next announcement this month.”
It comes as a rival index from Nationwide showed house prices climbed in May for the first time in three months, rising by 0.4% after a decline of 0.4% the previous month.
Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, said: “Static is a fair summary of the market right now. House prices are remaining firm, despite all the financial pressures coming from the high base rate.
“The cost of living crisis has eased off and wage growth as proved resilient. If feels like the market is holding its breath, awaiting either a base rate reduction or a new government.”
Watch: How to get on the property ladder by the age of 25
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Paul Dalglish, the son of Liverpool great Sir Kenny Dalglish, says he is focused on developing talent rather than moving players like estate agents sell houses after co-founding an agency.
The 47-year-old enjoyed a varied playing career before moving into coaching in the United States and Canada, most recently as manager and technical director of Miami FC.
Dalglish left the club at the end of 2021 and a catch-up with old school friend Ben Mawson in Florida a few months later sparked the idea for a new sports agency.
TaP23 has now been official launched by the barrister turned renowned music manager Mawson and Dalglish, with the pair believing they offer something different in a saturated market.
“It would have been quite easy for Ben and I to have stayed in our lanes,” he told PA. “I was enjoying a successful career over in America after I finished playing, coaching and being the president of a club. Ben obviously in music.
“But we genuinely felt that there was a gap in the market, a full service football agency.
“Although there’s a lot of good agents out there and there’s a lot of organisations that say they are full service, very few in reality actually are.
“We want to get away from clients thinking that they have an agent. They have a management team.
“I think what’s kind of been the case in football has been almost like an estate agent where players get your move but then the actual day-to-day service doesn’t exist too much after that.”
Delighted for Liam Scales to have signed a new 4 year deal at @CelticFC and allow him to focus on the final key matches of the season. #TaP23 #LiamScales #Scales2028 #CelticFC pic.twitter.com/1PPvMa7zBv
— TaP23 (@_tap23) May 3, 2024
Dalglish believes on the football side he is “about as qualified as you can be” to help develop players’ careers, given his playing experience, Pro Licence coaching background and agency qualifications.
As for Mawson, he is singer Lana Del Rey’s manager and has helped guide the careers of pop stars like Dua Lipa and Ellie Goulding.
“It’s about looking after a human being, and all human beings are different, and they all require different things,” TaP23 co-founder Mawson said.
“Whether it’s music on the stage or football on the pitch, there’s that performance piece that’s important to be doing at the highest possible level.”
![Paul Dalglish played for Newcastle at the top level](https://ukpropertyguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1717724803_786_Paul-Dalglish-pledges-to-focus-on-developing-talent-after-launching.jpg)
It is that platform for potential to thrive that Dalglish is looking to help bring into football.
“Whether it’s vocal training, dance lessons, bringing in a stylist, whatever you need to do to improve the performance of that individual, it’s done,” he said of the music world.
“Whereas in football that doesn’t exist. A lot of people are managing footballers don’t have any plan to improve the level of the performance on a pitch.
“They don’t have any background in football to be able to give that advice, or they don’t have even career planning.”
We’re proud to announce @kennethdalglish as a client. A true footballing icon; one of the greatest players and managers of all time, with an incredibly successful career spanning decades. Makes him the perfect role model for our team and clients. #TaP23 pic.twitter.com/XDbsLbXCiS
— TaP23 (@_tap23) December 21, 2023
Dalglish’s father Kenny has joined TaP23 as a founder client and ambassador who will sit on the board in a non-executive advisory role.
Paul added: “If you look at my career, I’ve gone from playing in the Premier League to playing in League Two and it was all because of me and I can explain why and the consequences of action.
“Most people in football get what they deserve, and it’s what you’re willing to put into it that determines what you’re going to get out of it.
“Being able to guide players from experience, you’re not just someone who’s guessing what it’s like. You’re someone who’s lived it and you can show people the highest highs and the lowest lows.”
Opinion: 100% Media 0% Nonsense
Specialist media consultancies like PwC’s should be in high demand. And yet the market for them could have a quickly approaching expiry date.
“The big question now for MediaSense is how it will use this influx of cash to evolve into a business that offers even more for advertisers when Mediapalooza dies down.
“The trouble is, this may have to happen more quickly than is comfortable. Private-equity companies are not typically known for having long-term patience when it comes to making returns from their investments.”
Nearly three years after I wrote the above in a previous column, MediaSense, majority-owned by Apiary Capital, has made its first major acquisition. It has swooped for the UK media and marketing consulting arm of PwC, led by its sharp frontman Sam Tomlinson, who will become chief client officer at MediaSense after the deal completes on 31 July.
Three years is a long time when you have PE owners, which typically look to sell after four to seven years, depending on the return they expect to get from the overall bag of companies they’ve acquired.
Off the scale
And yet this particular acquisition appears to be tactical rather than strategic, according to sources familiar with both sides of the deal.
If we go back to 2021, when MediaSense inked the PE deal, CEO Graham Brown talked about how Apiary’s access to funds would allow the company to push into other markets and develop its ability to provide global media consultancy for some of the world’s biggest brands.
“We have a relatively small presence in the US and an early presence in India and no presence in the rest of Asia,” Brown told Campaign.
It’s curious that a UK consultancy, whose headcount is similar to that of MediaSense, would be MediaSense’s first buy.
Unless, of course, this was an opportunistic buy.
Terms of the MediaSense/PwC deal have not been disclosed, but sources have told me that MediaSense was certainly not the only potential buyer. However, people familiar with the deal have described MediaSense as keener than most to make a deal, given its desire to scale.
I repeat: private equity is not known for patience.
Conflicting advice
PwC had put Tomlinson’s division up for sale because it had become something of an annoyance.
Yes, it might have grown quickly into a 50-person team since being formally established seven years ago, but media auditing can create conflicts if you’re also advising on how to make brands more sustainable and better-equipped to integrate AI into an organisation. PwC had begun running global media pitches — including the Unilever review that is currently in the works.
While these are big deals in the world of media, there’s always a bigger fish and these consultancies are never short of hunger.
The timing of how this deal came about is also telling.
I understand that PwC effectively started the process for selling the media and marketing division in September 2023. That would be just three months after the US Association of National Advertisers and PwC failed to produce a planned study of that country’s programmatic supply chain. In other words, PwC’s US failed to recreate what the UK team led by Tomlinson acheived: a landmark report in 2020 that laid bare how ignorant our industry is at knowing where the money in automated media buying is actually going.
Here we saw a potential conflict of interest in action: PwC’s US team was appointed by the ANA to audit the programmatic supply chain, but PwC was already the financial auditor of The Trade Desk, a massive supply-side platform and player in programmatic advertising.
PwC also audits WPP, one of the world’s largest agency groups and media buyers. WPP’s agencies are often blocked from pitching for brands’ accounts because of “conflicts”, whereby you can’t work for more than one airline or car brand.
And, incidentally, WPP media agency Mindshare is the incumbent on Unilever, a pitch which PwC is overseeing as a consultant.
How to spend it
MediaSense had secured a majority buyout from Apiary on the basis of there being a premium in this industry for consultancies that can credibly demonstrate independence.
When you’re an advertiser struggling to know the murky details about what media agencies are really doing with your budget or what are the meaningful innovations in marketing versus the new shiny thing, specialist consultancies like MediaSense should be highly desirable.
Its bigger rival Ebiquity is publicly owned and has been rumoured to be on the radar of PE too. MediaLink, even after the acrimonious exit of Michael Kassan, has been bought and sold twice in the last six years. ID Comms and R3, which also provide media consultancy, are likely targets too.
However, that market for boutique media consultancies could have a quickly approaching expiry date.
As technology continues to disrupt the way we keep track of how money is spent in digital media, it also affects how consultancies can give good advice on how to spend it well.
Ashley MacKenzie, founder of adtech platform Fenestra, tells me: “In the new age of programmatic media activation and global real-time bidding, humans aren’t able to assess performance of real-time bidding or follow its complexities — only machines can.”
The ANA/PwC study, which ultimately failed to achieve its objectives, proves that, he explains.
MacKenzie adds: “Further, a PowerPoint deck containing a performance [media] or media buying review — now necessarily one and the same thing — used to take a subject matter expert weeks to write. They are are now created by [AI] in, literally, minutes.”
Editor’s note: This article was amended after publication to include the fact that PwC is WPP’s auditor and to use clearer language that the ANA study was not conducted by PwC’s UK team.
Omar Oakes is editor-in-chief of The Media Leader.
100% Media 0% Nonsense is a weekly column about the state of media and advertising.