Publicis Groupe Acquires Sustainability Firm Salterbaxter

UK-based company Salterbaxter, a leading international sustainability strategy and communications consultancy firm. 

With 70 employees, Salterbaxter works where business strategy, sustainability and creative communications meet, creating strategies and stories for some of the world's leading businesses and brands, including Adidas, Anglo American, BP, BSkyB, LEGO, Maersk and Thomson Reuters. An established leader in the UK and Europe, the company has recently seen growing momentum in the Middle East and North America, as the role of business in society is challenged and re-thought at pace and at scale. 

Salterbaxter will be aligned to Publicis Groupe’s strategic communications organization, MSLGROUP, and form a core part of MSLGROUP’s global Corporate & Brand Citizenship Practice. This underlines the importance MSLGROUP places on sustainability and citizenship as a key concern for businesses today. 

The agency will operate under the name ‘Salterbaxter MSLGROUP’, and will retain its existing management team with Nigel Salter as CEO and Penny Baxter as Managing Director. Nigel will also become the EMEA head for MSLGROUP’s Corporate and Brand Citizenship Practice, working with Scott Beaudoin, global leader of the global Corporate & Brand Citizenship Practice.  

Anders Kempe, president of MSLGROUP in EMEA, commented, “The issues of sustainability, transparency, trust, accountability, social purpose and long-term value creation increasingly shape how business intersects with society. As clients look for trusted advisors to help them develop effective strategies and tell compelling stories against this backdrop, we’re delighted to have Salterbaxter join the growing MSLGROUP team in London, and our dedicated Practice operating worldwide.” 

Nigel Salter, CEO at Salterbaxter, added, “The shifting global agenda has offered us opportunity to scale and accelerate our business. MSLGROUP’s important geographic and client footprint; its expertise in corporate affairs, digital and social, consumer communications, employee engagement and reputation management, and the company’s progressive approach will help us achieve that strategic expansion.” 

Penny Baxter, co-founder of the company, concluded, “The combination offers us everything we were looking for to help us better serve the interests of our global client base as well as giving us an even better platform to fulfill the ambitions of our people.”