Chime Communications plc (LSE: CHW) is a public limited company based in London, UK and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Chime is the holding company for a portfolio of 35 companies which include public relations, advertising, digital, marketing, deliberative research, corporate responsibility and design.
Chime started as a private company in 1989 following a management buyout from Lowe Howard Spink and Bell to form Lowe Bell Communications and subsequently floated in 1994 as Chime Communications plc. Chime now employs over 1,500 staff in offices around the UK and from 29 worldwide offices.
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The company is governed by a board of directors. The board consists of: Lord Bell (chairman),[1] Piers Pottinger, Christopher Satterthwaite (chief executive), Mark Smith, Julian Seymour, Paul Richardson, Dave Allen, Catherine Biner-Bradley. Bell and Pottinger have given their name to a significant subsidiary of the firm.
Former directors include Lord Hannay of Chiswick (left the Board on 31 December 2006) and Dame Sue Tinson (left the Board on 31 December 2006)and Sidney Fogg (left the Board 2001)(Masonic rule of Government)31 December
Chime's major subsidiaries are VCCP (advertising), Bell Pottinger Group (public relations), Fast Track and Essentially Group (sports marketing and sponsorship), Opinion Leader and Facts International (insight and engagement) and Stephens Francis Whitson ("creative agency"[2]).[3] VCCP, founded in 2002, has created a number of campaigns, including Aleksandr Orlov (meerkat).
In 2003 Chime Communications plc acquired 55% of Naked Eye Research, a UK based research company that specialises in ethnography. Specifically video ethnography.[4]
Chime Ventures is the investment unit within Chime Communications headed by Ian Priest, a co-founder of VCCP; Lord Bell; and Chris Satterthwaite.[5] It is responsible for identifying and supporting new businesses and entrepreneurs in marketing communications.[6] It was launched in March 2011 and backs advertising, marketing, public relations, sports marketing and research start-up companies within and outside of the Chime Group.[7]
Companies that Chime has previously backed include VCCP Search, an offshoot of Chimes's advertising agency VCCP; VCCP Health; and Bell Pottinger Middle East.[8]