Meet London’s fastest-growing private company: MJ Media

Find out how Martin Jones achieved more than 165 per cent compound annual growth rate over three years for his Soho-based media buying agency

Smack in the middle of London’s ad-land is 14-year-old media planning agency MJ Media. Founded by Martin Jones (the MJ in the name), the Soho-based company plans and buys ad space for marketing campaigns in the entertainment, technology and youth sectors.

“Our client base will come to us when they have a new product to launch. Our job is to recommend the media that their customers are likely to be consuming, then construct an advertising schedule to promote the product,” explains Jones.

The company shifted up a gear half a decade ago when it become accredited as an agency, allowing it to buy media directly (where before it was using another agency to buy space on its behalf). So MJ Media “can now trade on credit terms with media owners such as ITV, Channel 4 or Google,” Jones explains.

To multiply the turnover acceleration from that change further, Jones decided three to four years ago to make significant investments in infrastructure. Some £300,000 increase in annual overheads later, the improvements made to computer systems, staff numbers, credit insurance and new Charlotte Street premises seem to have paid off.

The company has seen its growth rocket in the last three years and now employs 20 people, having started just with Jones. Most employees are in their twenties and thirties which helps them understand their clients’ needs better, says Jones, who believes his firm is on target for a further 20 per cent growth in 2011.

Read the full results of the Top 20 Fastest-Growing Companies