Nelson Bostock Unlimited: London B2B Tech PR Agency

Nelson Bostock Unlimited is a London B2B and technology PR agency founded in 1987 by Martin Bostock and Roger Nelson. It was sold to Creston in 2003 and now sits inside Unlimited Group. The agency works across corporate, consumer and technology sectors and is known for its tech and B2B client roster.

How did Nelson Bostock Unlimited start?

Martin Bostock and Roger Nelson founded Nelson Bostock in 1987. Bostock later recalled that the two started out in an attic on Portobello Road with an Amstrad word processor and a fax machine, according to a 2015 Holmes Report story. Early clients included American Express, Toshiba and Canon, and PRovoke Media reported in January 2024 that Toshiba and Canon were still clients.

The agency was sold to Creston in 2003. Nelson retired from the business in 2007, and Bostock moved to non-executive chairman in 2013 before leaving at the end of March 2015. PRovoke reported in January 2024 that Roger Nelson died in New York in December 2023.

What did the Creston era look like?

When Bostock stepped down in 2015, the Holmes Report described a group that included the main tech and B2B agency Nelson Bostock, the consumer agency Fever, the digital and social shop Things Unlimited and the content agency MediaWorks. The group was led by CEO Lee Nugent, with Nick Clark as Nelson Bostock's managing director. A 2013 trade report said the group had enjoyed double-digit growth in each of the previous four years.

Who owns Nelson Bostock today?

Nelson Bostock is part of Unlimited Group. In a PRmoment podcast, Group Managing Director Will Hart said Unlimited Group was owned by the private equity group DBay Advisors at the time of that interview. He said around 70 people worked at Nelson Bostock, which he described as a tech PR firm, and that it had doubled in size over the previous three years. Hart joined Nelson Bostock in 2011 and became its managing director in 2020 before taking the group role from Nick Clark.

Unlimited Group has also said it acquired DirectionGroup Unlimited, Firstbase Unlimited and Realise Unlimited, which it describes as giving the group an integrated B2B offering. It appointed Tim Hassett as Group CEO after those acquisitions.

Who leads Nelson Bostock Unlimited?

When it announced Holly Hunter as managing partner, Nelson Bostock listed Lucy Watson as managing director and Caroline Coventry as a managing partner. The announcement also mentioned the agency's Human Understanding Lab, which it uses to study audiences, media and markets. Leadership has changed several times over the agency's history, so check the agency's own site for its current team.

What sectors and disciplines does it cover?

The agency's PRCA member listing describes strengths in the corporate, consumer and technology sectors. The sectors it lists include business and professional services, IT hardware and software, financial services, telecommunications, travel and tourism, utilities, energy and publishing. The disciplines it lists include corporate affairs, corporate social responsibility, crisis and issues management, and online PR. For context on how this fits the wider market, see EPR's guide to leading PR firms by market, industry and region and its explainer on corporate communications.

What clients and work is Nelson Bostock known for?

PRovoke has listed Sega, the BBC, Facebook, Google, PlayStation, Amazon, Salesforce, BT and EE among the technology brands the agency has worked for. Gorkana reported UK agency appointments from Criteo and Momondo Group following competitive pitches. In its announcement about Holly Hunter, the agency cited recent wins including The Breakthrough Agenda, led by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, plus TP-Link and LHH, part of the Adecco Group.

What awards has Nelson Bostock won?

The agency's PRCA member listing cites the PRCA Medium Sized Consultancy award for 2018, PRmoment's Best Technology Agency and Best B2B Agency for 2019, and a PRCA Dare award for a media relations campaign in 2019.

How does Nelson Bostock compare with other firms?

Nelson Bostock is a mid-sized, tech-focused London specialist, not a global network. To see how it sits next to the large holding-company firms, read EPR's rundown of the largest PR firms in the world and the directory of the operators running PR. The full list of agency profiles is in the PR Firms Directory.