LONDON — Allison+Partners has added two new senior hires to its UK & Ireland operation, as it seeks to step up its growth in the region.

Harry Ronaldson has joined as a vice president and will be responsible for expanding the agency’s B2B tech offering. Formerly director of the technology practice at Golin, Ronaldson has run integrated campaigns for global B2B brands including Worldpay and Siemens.

Katie Rispin, who previously worked at Red Brick Road and Kaper, has joined as a senior account director to oversee the agency’s consumer business.

At the same time, Allison+Partners has formed a strategic partnership with Beyond, a new London-based talent and influencer marketing agency founded by a former Freuds duo: talent and endorsements specialist Ollie Thomas and associate director Natasha Mensah. Beyond is already adding to the agency’s strength in influencer marketing for consumer and B2B clients, including through its Influence Impact measurement of an influencer’s impact on a brand.

The US-headquartered firm has 29 offices worldwide and is part of the MDC Partners group. The UK & Ireland region grew by more than 35% in 2017 and now has a team of 13, including Kate Lynch, who leads the Dublin office.

UK & Ireland managing director Jim Selman (pictured), another former Freuds associate, who joined the firm in 2015 and was recently named Allison+Partners’ first European partner, told the Holmes Report: “Harry and Katie have very different backgrounds, reflecting the full-service nature of the UK & Ireland region and apeing what Allison+Partners has done in the US and Asia. It’s an exciting time for our industry, there’s a huge amount of change and that’s allowing us to play across a broader strategy than just earned media.”

Selman added: “It’s an interesting challenge growing a firm in this market, regardless of whether you are part of a large group or starting out on your own. We have great resources and scale from the US and our global offices, but we’re effectively running a small business and we’re still relatively unknown in the UK. Our terrific growth last year has encouraged us to be ambitious, to grow and scale up in London so we can compete on larger briefs.”

And he confirmed that the agency was actively looking at acquisition in London: “We’re pursuing acquisitions as a strategy to build our business in Europe in addition to organic growth, and we’re reviewing several opportunities.”

Ronaldson said: “There’s an incredible feeling of momentum at Allison+Partners in London, which will allow us to show off the full range of our integrated capabilities across social, digital and earned channels.”