LONDON — Green Square, the corporate finance advisory firm to the media and marketing communications sector, has appointed Frank co-founder Graham Goodkind as a board advisor.

Goodkind will work with Green Square clients on growing their businesses and seeking a merger or acquisition. Recent deals the firm has advised on include the sale of Intermarketing to Advantage Smollan, Circle Research to Next 15, Orange Bus to Capita, Just:Health to Havas, Frukt to Interpublic and Steak Group to Dentsu.

The new role looks like a good fit for Goodkind, who set up Frank with Andrew Bloch in 2000 and orchestrated its sale to Australian marketing services group Photon (now Enero). He also initiated the post earn-out transaction that saw 25% of the agency returning to the Frank management team.

After stepping back from day-to-day management earlier this year, Goodkind remains as chairman of Frank; Bloch and Alex Grier are now joint managing partners of the agency.  He is also on the board of other organisations including Shift Ventures and Camden Town Unlimited, an active investor and advisor to several early stage ventures and a “Dutch Uncle” (said to be an advisor who pulls no punches with his feedback) to other businesses.

Goodkind told the Holmes Report: “This side of things is something I really wanted to get involved in as I've always been as much into the business side of PR as the PR business. I think I've experienced most steps along the highway that any agency principal is going to come across. I look forward to sharing that with Green Square clients.”

He added: "I think agency owners long for a kindred spirit in the corporate advisory arena, someone who isn’t just an accountant or finance director or lawyer. Someone who has been in the same trenches as them over the years. I have been there and done that at just about every point in an agency’s lifecycle, including the sale process and beyond, so hopefully I can be that kindred spirit and let owners benefit from my experience and insight.”

Tony Walford, partner at Green Square, said: “We are delighted to have Graham join up with us. He is a serial deal-doer and industry guru which he combines with a founder’s take on running an agency and being entrepreneurial. Having access to Graham’s knowledge and experience is going to be important to us and to the companies we are advising as we further expand, particularly in the PR sector.”