Essentially Group merges agencies

The Essentially Group is merging and relaunching its agencies as a new business that claims to be one of the top five sports marketing agencies in the UK.

It is merging Accelerate Sport and Music, Global Sports Management, the world’s largest rugby marketing and management business, Accelerate Motorsport, Fontiers Group, a sports marketing and entertainment group, and Athletes 1, which primarily focuses on cricket.

The agencies will come together under one name, which has yet to be disclosed, and it will be based at a new headquarters in Vauxhall, south London.

Essentially Group’s interests cover client and sponsorship management and negotiation, licensing, and event, communications and media management.

The new company will be headed by Bart Campbell, the chief executive of Essentially Group who was appointed in November 2006. Campbell is also a founder of Accelerate. He previously founded sports sponsorship agency GSM in 1999 and GSM World in 2001.

The Essentially Group was launched on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in May 2006. In August 2007, the Group sold Viking Island, a television production company that focuses on sports-based programming to its founder Alan Bentley.

The new agency will be launched next week.