entrepreneurs 25


River’s success flows from the heart of the Thames Valley


As CEO of award-winning The River Group, Nicola Murphy heads up one of the country’s top content marketing agencies


Based just a stone’s throw from the heart of London’s Oxford Street the agency works with major brands, including retail giants Superdrug and Holland & Barrett; Monarch Airlines; VisitBritain; Honda and Weight Watchers.


'It’s about


understanding each business and what they want their customers to think and do when they engage with different types of content'


The business is built on creating omni-channel content to help brands reach out to their customers through a cross-section of activity, ranging from traditional print magazines to digital marketing campaigns, videos, websites and customer relationship marketing.


The results have been impressive. Turnover last year was £18.2 million and the agency currently has some 110 full time employees, plus a string of freelances who provide support for specific projects as required.


Murphy, who lives in Chalkhouse Green, near Henley, with her two chocolate Labradors and four cats, puts its success down to a combination of factors.


“River has always been good at understanding how content for the product or service we are promoting fits into an organisation’s overall marketing and business strategy,” she said.


“We want to know what the touch points are for the customer and client, and what success looks like in terms of measurement and return on investment for the director we are working with.


“It’s about understanding each business and what they want their customers to think and do when they engage with different types of content, whether that’s a video, a magazine or an app.


“We’ve also been very successful in making sure we have the right individuals, who are experts in their field, and have the necessary creative, marketing and strategic skills to run with the accounts.”


It’s certainly a successful approach. Holland & Barrett has just celebrated its 21st anniversary with River, and Murphy and her team have recently taken Healthy, the store’s long-standing customer wellbeing magazine, and turned it into a paid-for newsstand publication, allowing it to compete against the likes of Zest and Top Santé.


Not only that, but last August, River teamed up with printers Polestar to break the Guinness world record for the world’s biggest ever magazine – producing a copy of Healthy which measured more than three metres in height and weighed 17 stone.


Murphy began her stellar career in the mid-1980s in a sales and marketing role for Procter & Gamble. She then spent three years with a contract publishing house, meeting her future business partner and deciding they could offer clients a better service.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – FEBRUARY 2016


Having grown up in Kent, her introduction to the Thames Valley came courtesy of studying for an English degree at Reading University, followed by an MBA in strategic marketing, writing a thesis which would go on to form the backbone of River’s business plan.


The business has grown steadily over the years and in July 2014, Murphy and her two fellow shareholders sold to US fund manager Sun Capital Partners. While the others have left, she stayed in charge as CEO for an initial three-year period – now more than halfway through.


Which begs the question – what is she going to do next?


“My immediate goal is to continue to grow profitability for shareholders, even though I am no longer one myself,” she says. “River still feels like my business and my clients, and although I didn’t think I could work for someone else, I feel it’s a different phase now and I am enjoying it, so I suspect I will stay involved.


“I also want to invest in other businesses in the Thames Valley. I love the country life and outdoor pursuits and this is a great place to live. I’m a trained florist – my mother was a florist – so I’m interested in that and I also love collecting paintings and sculpture, I have plenty of ideas to keep me busy.”


Committed to good causes, for the past 16 years, Murphy has been a trustee of The Good Rock Foundation, a charity supporting disabled orphans in China. As a mother of two, and growing up with an adopted brother and a foster sister, giving orphans the opportunity for a better start in life and the chance to learn a trade, is something she feels strongly about.


She has recently become a director and trustee of the Katie Piper Foundation and last September, this led her to face her own fear of heights for a charity skydive, raising around £5,000 towards funding the UK’s first burns rehabilitation unit.


And one thing’s for sure – while she may be looking for new ventures, skydiving won’t be one of them.


www.businessmag.co.uk


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