Boss buys retail marketing agency Momentum Instore

MOMENTUM Instore, the Handforth-based retail marketing agency has been bought by its managing director, Rob Gleave and his co-director and wife, Steph.

Mr Gleave, who has spent 30 years with the company having joined at the age of 17, and Steph, the sales and marketing director have acquired the business from McCann Worldgroup, the international marketing company.

Momentum Instore has around 1,000 employees and sales of £29m. It works with a number of bluechip retailers, including Sainsbury’s, B&Q, Boots and Waitrose and provides a number of services ranging fromproduct display installation to merchandising, field marketing and retail audits.

Formerly known as NDI (Northern Display International), it was acquired by McCann Worldgroup in 1999. 

Mr Gleave said: “Steph and I are passionate about Momentum Instore, which has been a huge part of our lives  for so many years. We also have a great deal of respect for the team here – each and every person who works at Momentum Instore plays a role in making the company the success that it is.

“We were extremely excited about being given the option to purchase such a dynamic business – the opportunity to buy the company you’ve worked for since the age of 17 doesn’t come along every day.

“We are now looking forward to continuing to work with Momentum Instore’s talented team to take the business forward and implement a strategy that will lead to future growth and expansion.

“While the ownership of the business has changed, the philosophy behind it and desire to provide market leading standards remains the same. The only difference will be the size of the company, as we look to continue to grow and expand in the future.”

Financial terms were not disclosed. In its most recently filed accounts – for 2010 – the company made an operating profit of £871,000 on sales of £29.1m.