Applegate Marketplace calls in elephant

Applegate Marketplace has appointed elephant communications as its retained PR advisor.

The move comes at a time of rapid expansion for the leading online business market place that enables business buyers to source the tools, components and services they require, detailing over 17 million products and 400,000 companies.

More than 300,000 buyers a month use Applegate, and thousands of businesses publish their product information on the site. Applegate assists both
buyers and sellers, providing an efficient information marketplace. The company is ISO 9001 certified and has established broad expertise in assisting firms to grow their business online.

Applegate Marketplace has close links with the engineering sector and funds the industrial heritage charity Grace’s Guide (www. gracesguide.co.uk), promoting British design and manufacturing.

The elephant account team of three will be led by elephant founder Guy Bellamy who comments: “At a time when there is such emphasis on catalysing the economic recovery, Applegate has a important role to play in supporting the growth agenda, both intellectually and through the practical services it provides. By its nature Applegate is an incubator that backs growth and innovation for British business and we are proud to be supporting them at a key stage in their growth.”

Stuart Brocklehurst, CEO at Applegate Marketplace said: “The elephant team is a new and different breed of communications consultancy that launched during the downturn with a new approach to working that is well attuned to a market where added value, fresh thinking and flexibility are important watchwords. A dynamic challenger brand, the elephant team shares our values and are great fun to work with.”

One aspect of the forthcoming communications programme will see elephant and Applegate work together to develop a pioneering new academic study that will define an index for measuring the digitisation of British Business. The Applegate-Brunel Digitisation Index (ABDI) will become a new measure against which companies can benchmark their digital maturity as a business, and by which policy makers can assess the health of businesses and sectors against a consistent measure. This rolling study covers four main areas of business operations – buying, selling, innovation and management. The study also provides a national gauge to assess the take-up and use of digital technologies by businesses across UK regions and industry sectors.