Industry Marketing services Number of employees 2,000 Founded 1989 | Website Chime Headquarters United Kingdom Type of business Private limited company | |
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Key people Christopher Satterthwaite (CEO) CEO Christopher Satterthwaite (2002–) Subsidiaries Bell Pottinger, Good Relations Profiles | ||
Chime Communications Limited is a marketing services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Chime is the holding company for a portfolio of companies which include sports marketing, public relations, advertising, digital, marketing, research, corporate responsibility and healthcare communications.
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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 before going private again in late 2015. Chime comprises five divisions, 54 companies and over 2,000 people.
Operations
The group comprises CSM in sport and entertainment; the VCCP Partnership in marketing communications; OPEN Health in healthcare communications and market access; CIE in market research; and the Chime Specialist Group for communications in specialist market places.
Chime retains a 25% stake in Bell Pottinger, a public relations firm that was bought out by its management in the summer of 2012.
Chime Ventures
Chime Ventures is the investment unit within Chime Communications headed by Nick Taylor, founder of Harvard PR and Chris Satterthwaite. It is responsible for identifying and supporting new businesses and entrepreneurs in marketing communications. 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.
Companies that Chime has previously backed include VCCP Search, an offshoot of Chimes's advertising agency VCCP; VCCP Health; and Bell Pottinger Middle East.
Executive management
The company is governed by an executive management team, consisting of Christopher Satterthwaite (chief executive), Mark Smith (chief operating officer and finance director), Robert Davison (group services director), Stephanie Brimacombe (chief marketing officer), Kate Fraser (HR director) and heads of Chime’s operating divisions: Lord Coe, Zak Brown, Crispin Beale, Adrian Coleman, Jo Parker and David Rowley.
Notable former directors include Lord Davies of Abersoch (who left the board following Chime's takeover in October 2015), Lord Hannay of Chiswick and Dame Sue Tinson (who both left the board on 31 December 2006), and Lord Bell (who left the board in June 2012 following a MBO by Bell Pottinger's management team).
Stock Exchange de-listing
Chime was de-listed from the London Stock Exchange on 16 October 2015 and re-registered as a private company following a takeover by Providence Equity Partners (81.1%) and WPP plc (18.9%). Chime was re-registered as a limited company on 19 October 2015.