Stone Junction announces new shareholder team

Technical, technology and STEM communications and PR consultancy Stone Junction has created two new shareholders. As a result, agency ownership is now shared between consultancy founder Richard Stone and two long standing members of the team, Laura England and Jessica Phillips.

Stone will continue as managing director, while England will become client services director and Phillips director of agency brand.

England was recently listed in PR Week’s 30 under 30 and is a former winner of the CIPR’s Outstanding Young Communicator award for the Midlands. Meanwhile, Phillips won the PRCA’s Professional of the Year award for the Midlands in 2021.

Both Phillips and England have been at Stone Junction for eight years and in that time the company has grown by 429 per cent, from a turnover of just under £400K in 2016 to a turnover of nearly £2M in 2022.

“These shares, which come with full voting rights and dividends, have been allocated without cost to Jess or Laura,” explained Stone. “I believe that independence is the most important factor in quality consultancy, to the point that an agency owned by a parent business is hampered in its ability to deliver honest and unbiased advice.”

“The same is true of the traditional agency ownership model. You get to senior director level and suddenly someone asks if you want to buy-in to a business you’ve helped build. The new shareholders are suddenly as hampered by bank debts as they would be by producing a profit and loss account every month for a parent company.

“This model is simply better; give shares to great people who do great work.”

Stone Junction is currently recruiting at all levels to support its next phase of growth and has several jobs available based at its headquarters in Stafford. To find out more, visit https://www.wechangeminds.com/opportunities/.