About Us
HOW WE STARTED: The beginning
In March 2020, female Co-Founders, Laura Braithwaite and Kate Merritt set out to use technology to enable a new and disruptive approach for connecting great talent in the media industry to companies. Their belief was that more diverse thinking will come from enabling everyone (talent and employers) to have the flexibility to work differently. They call it ‘Tomorrow’s Workplace, Today’.
A NEW AND MODERN SOLUTION: We connect consultants and media businesses quickly and easily
Launched in February 2021, Liberty Hive is a tech led talent platform that connects consultants and media businesses quickly and easily. Turning the tables on traditional recruitment, the instant matching technology means it behaves more like a dating service for the media industry! The tech does the heavy lifting whilst the Founders build this new community. Talking to every new member, providing advice and guidance, their approach is inclusive to all.
OUR STORY: Created by media experts who share a love of people and a passion for the industry
In 2020, both Kate and Laura realised the current way of working in media was leaving too many talented people feeling unfulfilled and great people were starting to leave the industry. Having worked with each other years ago, a reintroduction led to them working together on what would later become Liberty Hive.
Kate and Laura have always been passionate about people. Over the past year they have been developing the technology to bring fresh thinking to how talent is managed. As well as using matching technology to make connections between employers and consultants, they also wanted to create a community running through the core of Liberty Hive.
Biographies
Laura Braithwaite: Co-Founder
In my previous agency life, I worked at various networks and smaller independent agencies including Carat, BLM and Omnicom. Whatever the role, the thing that really drives me is people. Working with great clients and media talent to deliver best in class campaigns is what I do best. But recently I started to question how we can be more flexible in our thinking when it comes to teams and talent.
Since starting life as Co-Founder of Liberty Hive, I have relished the new challenges and experimenting with new ways of working – although I can’t claim everything works first time around! I am a champion of work life balance and creating an environment that is warm and welcoming so we can all find a way that works for everyone. When I am not working on Liberty Hive, I enjoy family life in Somerset which I am also pretty passionate about.
Kate Merritt: Co-Founder
Like many of my colleagues, I originally fell into the media industry but the opportunity to learn from exceptional people and work with amazing brands meant that I never wanted to leave. After twenty something years, working at incredible companies like Carat, Zenith, Mindshare and The Telegraph, I decided it was time to put my passion into making a real difference to the way the industry worked with talent.
It took a reunion with my now Co Founder and Liberty Hive was born. Now I get to connect with exceptional people every day plus there is never a dull moment for a start up! Outside of work I have three young boys, a dog and a hamster so getting the family work life balance is key!
Pippa Glucklich: Chair
An influential leader in the media agency space, Pippa brings her expertise in media, digital and communications to help guide Liberty Hive as Chair. Her career has spanned BLM, Arena, Starcom and Amplifi. In 2021, Pippa stepped back from global agencies and joined Electric Glue as Chief Executive.
Pippa is dedicated to company culture and supporting women to reach their ambitions – she is a past president of WACL and a trustee of NABS and Mind. Pippa has 2 sons, a dog called Digby and lives in Wimbledon. The family are Chelsea FC nuts.
Non-Executive Director: Sir Peter Job
Serving as Chief Executive Officer of the FTSE 100 Reuters Group between 1991 and July 2001, Sir Peter Job is a former Non-Executive Director of Royal Dutch Shell, GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo and Schroders. Peter plays a guiding role, particularly around the business functionalities of Liberty Hive.