Edward Briscoe set to acquire

Edward Briscoe Design’s parent company Edward Briscoe International Group is poised to make a series of acquisitions to position it as a one-stop design, production and media shop.

EBIG chairman Ted Briscoe says he will shortly finalise deals to acquire a new media company, a sales promotion and redemption business and a silk-screen printers, with a combined annual turnover of 14m.

Briscoe describes the move as a “positive step forward” and expects the diversification strategy to help weather a recession.

“It will be a range of marketing services companies with my master design brand on top so we can move up and down with what happens in the country,” he says.

Two artworkers have recently been made redundant after Briscoe “tightened up” the artwork side of the design group. He expects to tie-up the new deals by the end of the month.

The deals follow the departure of several senior staff from the group to establish their own consultancies over the last six months. There are currently 40 staff in the group.

Briscoe, who founded the group 28 years ago, resumed a full-time role at the consultancy at the start of the year after going into semi-retirement two years ago.

EBIG, which is the sole shareholder in Edward Briscoe Design, made a pre-tax loss of 886 085 for 1997 following a 23 per cent fall in turnover.

Briscoe claims to have turned the balance sheet around since his return to the helm. “It has been a year of sorting out, getting our product and financial foundation right and getting the right acquisitions in place,” he says.