Fast growing Outdo acquires Eye Airports

Eye Airports has the advertising and promotional rights for 19 UK regional airports, including Newcastle, Bristol, Exeter, Inverness, Derry, Humberside, Newquay and the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Outdo, provides direct media sales services to UK local authorities and companies. The Halifax-based firm has doubled its workforce and turnover in the last 18 months. It is now building on this strong organic growth with strategic acquisitions and partnerships.

The acquisition of Harrogate-based Eye Airports adds 80 digital sites and more than 500 high quality outdoor sites to Outdo’s existing portfolio of more than 3,000 advertising sites, which are situated in some of the UK’s busiest city and town centre locations.

Rachel Davies continues as managing director of Eye Airports and joins the Outdo management team.

Eye Airports will operate as a separate subsidiary of Outdo but will benefit from additional marketing and financial resources.

Rachel Davies, managing director of Eye Airports, said: “The next phase of our growth needs considerable investment in data, technology and ever more sophisticated marketing. Becoming part of Outdo with its expertise, energy, enthusiasm and experience will give the Eye team the tools to take our unique, targeted media opportunities to an even wider audience.”

Mike Brennan, chief executive of Outdo said: “Airport advertising is a fascinating business which provides advertisers with a unique platform to engage with many thousands of passengers every day who have lots of time on their hands.

“Eye Airports’ growing digital offering also now means that these passengers can immediately purchase a product or service. Digital advertising is an area of great long-term interest to me and with their specialism in selling to the regional marketplace, Eye Airports and their great team led by Rachel Davies are a perfect fit for Outdo, as we pride ourselves on being regional and digital advertising specialists.”

In August, Outdo announced a strategic partnership to market Top Screen Media’s premium digital screens located in reception areas at major city office buildings occupied by, among others, Google, HSBC and Samsung.

It also agreed another strategic partnership to market Kong Media’s large format digital advertising network in northern cities such as Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and Newcastle.

Out-of-home advertising is expected, for the first time, to be a £1bn a year industry in the UK this year, with digital formats expected to account for 50 per cent of this, according to a recent report by Group M, the media buying arm of WPP.

The outdoor advertising market is dominated by three companies: JCDecaux, Clear Channel and Global Outdoor, but there are several high growth, niche players such as Outdo that specialise in specific key sectors of the market.