Tag Archives: business

Goodbye The Lead Agency, Hello TLA

The Lead Agency (TLA) is the market leader in lead generation for the UK automotive sector and today we launch our new brand identity. We believe this new brand more accurately reflects our continued growth in the performance marketing space.

Founded in 2002, we have firmly established TLA as the UK’s foremost provider of sales-qualified consumers to more than 30 automotive brands, and, while lead generation remains a core part of our business’ offering, we believe that our previous brand no longer conveyed our growing portfolio of services in performance marketing, content and technology solutions.

Coinciding with our 18th birthday celebrations this month, The Lead Agency will rebrand as TLA, with an accompanying new visual identity and brand message.

“It is important that our brand mirrors not just how we have evolved, but how our market has changed.” Says Anton Hanley, TLA CEO.

“Lead generation is a part of a larger performance marketing ecosystem for our clients, and we have evolved to offer far more than our existing brand suggests, including transformational technology solutions and a greater portfolio of performance marketing options.”

“Our new brand identity focuses on who we are today and what we really excel in, and we are excited to share it with our clients, partners and the wider market.”

“We wanted to understand exactly what the business stood for and aspired to be, and worked closely with colleagues over a three month period to really drill into the core of TLA’s corporate identity.” Says Jonny Kimber, Lead Designer and primary architect of the new brand identity.

“The primary themes that emerged were automotive expertise, the quest for excellence, technological innovation and drive and ambition, all of which are reflected in our new logo: by the toggle itself, which represents both technology and our drive by constantly being “on” for our clients; and by the toggle switch, which shows a starred alloy, signifying automotive expertise and excellence.”

“It has been a fascinating process and has helped us get an even stronger sense of who TLA is from the perspective of clients, partners and new and existing employees.”

The brand launch comes weeks after the release of Platform X, our end-to-end consumer acquisition platform that will revolutionise the way that brands operate and measure performance marketing campaigns across their entire spectrum of channels.

TLA’s Sam Reaney up for FD of the Year Award

We are thrilled to say that our very own Sam Reaney is in the running for a top accolade this evening at the Finance Director of the Year Awards.

Sam, who joined the business in 2015, has been included on a three-person shortlist for FD Under 40 Years of Age – Business up to £25 million Turnover. His fellow nominees are Rick Poskitt of Thrive Media Group and Chris Bird of Adlib Audio.

The awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding work done by the region’s financial directors, rewarding the underestimated job they do within their organisations.

Sam has been a key figure during TLA’s growth over the last few years, which has seen the business appear in the FT 1000, a list of the thousand fastest-growing companies in Europe, the Sunday Times’ Tech Track 100 and the Deloitte Technology Fast 50.

The event is being held at the Crowne Plaza in Liverpool City Centre and hosted by BBC Radio 5 Live’s Hugh Ferris. This year’s sponsors are Accountable Recruitment, Grant Thornton, Hill Dickinson and HSBC.

Good luck to Sam and the other nominees!

TLA receives accreditation as Living Wage Employer

We are pleased to announce that The Lead Agency (TLA) has been officially accredited as a Living Wage Employer.

The certification acknowledges a company’s commitment to voluntarily pay all members of staff a higher rate of pay (based on the real cost of living) than the government-set minimum wage and national living wage.

The accreditation is given by the Living Wage Foundation, an organisation that is leading an independent movement to ensure a hard day’s work receives a fair day’s pay. It does so by celebrating and recognising companies and leader who choose to pay more than the government minimum.

The Foundation highlights that the Real Living Wage, based on what people over the age of 18 need to live, is £9.30 per hour across the UK and £10.75 in London. By comparison, the minimum wage is £7.70 (for people aged 21-24) and £8.21 (for people over 25) with no additional weighting for London.

Having met all required criteria, TLA joins 6,000 UK companies accredited with Living Wage Employer status. Others include Everton and Liverpool FC, Accenture, Ikea, KPMG, Aviva and Nationwide.

To view our current vacancies, please visit Careers.

TLA features in Northern Tech 100

We have been named in the Northern Tech 100 at the Northern Tech Awards for the second year running.

The table is compiled based on revenue growth over the last three years and is run by technology advisory and investment firm GP Bullhound.

Our inclusion at number 95 is our second award league table for 2019, having appeared at number 306 in the Financial Times’ FT 1000.

Thank you to all our clients, partners and employees for your continued to support. These awards wouldn’t be possible without you.

TLA appears in FT 1000 list for second consecutive year

The Lead Agency has been included in the Financial Times’ listing of the 1,000 fastest-growing companies in Europe for the second consecutive year.

With the help of data specialist Statista, the FT 1000 ranks fast-growing businesses from across the continent based on compound annual growth rate in revenue over a four-year period (2014-2017).

With a growth rate of 80.4%, we are delighted to have climbed from 363rd on the list in 2018 to 306th for 2019, placing as the 46th highest-placed UK business.

This recognition comes off the back of three respected tech company league table placings in 2018 as well as our first inclusion in the FT 1000, which has no restrictions on business type. We were named 50th in the The Sunday Times Tech Track 100, 39th in the Deloitte UK Fast 50 and fifth in the Northern Tech 100.

Placing in the FT 1000 for the second successive year is a tremendous achievement for everyone associated with the company, demonstrating our continued growth and success. But it wouldn’t be achievable without the consistently exceptional quality achieved by the TLA team and the continued support, trust and commitment of our clients and partners. We thank you all for helping us to continue our journey and allowing us to be a part of yours.

Top of this year’s ranking is financial services firm Blue Motor Group, which achieved a compound annual growth rate of 701.4%, followed by last year’s number one Deliveroo, which grew by 441.2%. The 1,000th placed company, German business Atheneum Partners, had a growth rate of 37.7%.

The Lead Agency’s Anton Hanley interviewed in LCR Business Post

Following our involvement in the International Business Festival’s launch campaign as a Next Level Business, our founder Anton Hanley has been interviewed by Liverpool City Region’s Business Post.

Anton discusses the early days of The Lead Agency right through to the current day as well as his hopes for the festival, which takes place in Liverpool next month.

You read Anton’s interview by picking up a copy of the latest LCR Business Post in and around the city or by downloading the full interview.

The Lead Agency features in International Business Festival campaign

Later this year, Liverpool will host the International Business Festival – a gathering of 30,000 business owners, decision-makers and professionals from around the world.

The event will consist of nine high-growth sector-themed days running between the 12th and 28th June that aim to help organisations scale-up and fulfil their ambitions.

To help promote the event, The Lead Agency was approached by the organisers and asked if we’d like to be featured as a Next Level Business case study – an invitation extended to just three UK businesses.

We were naturally honoured and welcomed the organisers’ film crew at our Liverpool HQ towards the end of last year. As well as capturing footage of our office and surroundings, our CEO and founder Anton Hanley was interviewed.

Watch the film below to hear about our success to date – from a standing start in 2002 to becoming the UK’s number one new car lead generator – as well as with Anton’s ambitions for the future and hopes for the Festival.