Harbour Collective Boosts Client Services Team Following Period of Exceptional Growth

Independent communications consultancy Harbour Collective has boosted its client services team with the appointment of Matt Dankis as business director and the promotion of Anna Coulter to the same role. The news follows a period of exceptional growth for the business, which has seen it double in size in terms of both revenue and headcount in the last 12 months and pick up four significant pieces of new business. 

Dankis joins the consultancy from The&Partnership, where he was a senior account director, working closely with the agency’s management team. During his time there, he ran the global Aon account, developing and launching its biggest repositioning and rebrand in decades, as well as working on Lexus Europe and running KINTO Europe. 

He has previously held roles at agencies including BBH and adam&eveDDB, where he led the award-winning Skittles Give the Rainbow campaign in support of Pride in London. 

In his new role at Harbour Collective, Dankis will oversee a number of key accounts, including The Athletic and Tilney, Smith and Williamson, as well as helping to drive the new business agenda. 

Coulter has been promoted from the position of Account Director to the new role of business director. Joining Harbour Collective in March 2021 from Droga5, Coulter has quickly made an impact and proven herself as a key member of the team.  

She has previously held positions at M&C Saatchi, where she worked on Peroni and Ballantine’s Whisky, and Anomaly, where her clients included Johnnie Walker and Virgin Trains. 

In her new position, Coulter will oversee clients such as McCarthy Stone and Bestinvest, and she will also lead on new business. 

Dankis and Coulter will both report to M-L Robinson, client partner at Harbour Collective.   

M-L Robinson, client partner, Harbour Collective, said: “This is an important moment for Harbour Collective. In these new roles, Matt and Anna are forming an additional layer of client leadership, enabling me to focus on taking the business forward while they deliver day-to-day for our growing client base. 

"Matt has an impressive CV with experience of leading major accounts at some of the industry’s best agencies, so he is well placed to hit the ground running and work with our clients to create outstanding work."

"Since joining us last year, Anna has shown that she fully deserves the extra responsibility that her new role will bring. She is the personification of what great client management is all about: creating the conditions within which everyone and everything can thrive.” 

Matt Dankis, new business director, Harbour Collective, added: “It’s amazing to be joining such an incredibly talented, nice and collaborative team of people, who have been behind some of the best work in the industry, at what feels like just the beginning of Harbour’s journey. 

"A combination of independent big brand thinking and the expertise of the like-minded specialist agencies in the collective is truly differentiating and I’m excited to be a part of it.

“Harbour have already created some fantastic work for their clients, and I’m looking forward to building on that legacy moving forwards and helping the collective to grow.” 

Anna Coulter, new business director, Harbour Collective, concluded: "Harbour does things differently and it’s brilliant to see that come to life across our clients, working alongside lovely people who are genuinely experts in their fields.  

“I’m delighted to go into 2022 leading the business across a number of our key clients and I look forward to all of the exciting things to come this year.” 

Harbour is a collective of independent specialist agencies connected around a central strategic and creative consultancy hub. Its unique structure and client offering are designed as a contemporary alternative to the large legacy agency groups; and clients include McCarthy Stone, The Athletic, BT, Match.com, Fitbit and John Lewis.