Fishtank buys Mirfield neighbour Boom Marketing as founder retires

Fishtank Agency has acquired Boom Marketing, a creative agency based in the same West Yorkshire town, as Boom founder and managing director Andrew Moore retires.

Four of Boom’s team have moved across to Fishtank as part of the deal. Moore started Boom in 2013 and built it around practical creative work for clients: websites, graphic design and signage.

Fishtank, founded by Damien Fisher in 2008, is a digital agency covering strategy, growth, creative and development. It is B Corp certified and has been steadily building scale. Boom is its second deal in a short period, following the merger with Wild PR, which brought in PR and an outsourced marketing team service. Wild PR now trades under the Fishtank name, and that deal took the combined team past 20 people.

Why this deal works

On paper, this is a small local deal. In practice, it solves two problems at once.

For Moore, it delivers what most founders approaching retirement actually want: clients looked after, staff kept in work, and a buyer down the road who already understands the market. No drawn-out process with a distant acquirer and no awkward wind-down.

For Fishtank, it adds design and print capability, an established client book and four experienced people, all without the cost and time of hiring. Being in the same town makes the integration about as simple as these things get.

The lesson for agency owners

Succession is one of the most common reasons agencies change hands, and one of the least planned for. Plenty of founders reach the point Moore did with no obvious successor and no buyer lined up.

The ones who come out well tend to have three things in place: a team that can carry on without them, clients who are loyal to the work rather than to one person, and a shortlist of buyers who would genuinely value the business. Often the best buyer is closer than you think, sometimes on the same business park.

Founders thinking about retirement in the next three to five years should be preparing now. The right buyer is far easier to find when you are choosing the timing, rather than having it chosen for you.