ERM, the world’s largest pure play sustainability consultancy, has acquired Shelton Group, a sustainability-focused marketing and communications agency that provides specialist services to leading organizations across a range of sectors.

Shelton Group’s team of strategists, content creators, researchers and designers based in Knoxville, Tennessee, offers a unique blend of capabilities to help organizations communicate their sustainability credentials to customers, communities, employees and investors in new and impactful ways. Combined with ERM’s deep expertise in helping businesses to operationalize sustainability, the acquisition will strengthen ERM’s ability to provide clients with integrated solutions across the spectrum of their sustainability needs.

Shelton Group’s employees will join ERM’s Change & Transformation team, providing best-in-class services including insights, positioning and strategy, communication planning, ESG reporting and campaign delivery.

Gerard Spans, Chief Innovation Officer at ERM said: “Shelton Group has been a pioneer of sustainability marketing and communications, and we’re delighted that ERM and our clients around the world will now benefit from their wealth of expertise in sustainability storytelling.

“Our clients are increasingly focused on how they can most effectively communicate their sustainability commitments and progress to all their key stakeholders, from customers to employees. The skills, creativity and passion for sustainability the Shelton Group team brings will ensure these stories are carefully crafted to enhance reputation, build trust and differentiate our clients’ positioning in an increasingly competitive market.”

Suzanne Shelton, President and CEO at Shelton Group, said: “I am excited about joining ERM as a Partner and leading the next phase of Shelton Group’s evolution.  By combining Shelton Group’s sustainability marketing and communication capabilities with ERM’s deep technical subject matter expertise, we will offer a greater depth of service that supports clients with the challenge of communicating their sustainability stories in a clear and compelling way.”

About Shelton Group

Shelton Group is a leading marketing & communications agency based in the US, focused on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. They deliver thought-leading research, results-oriented marketing campaigns, emotionally compelling stories and user-friendly designs - all intended to help companies gain a market advantage as they work to create a more sustainable future. By connecting the dots between Shelton Group's proprietary market trending data and real-life communications experience, they use strategies, messaging and designs to create a future reality in which sustainability is ordinary. Learn more

About ERM

ERM is the business of sustainability.

As the largest global pure-play sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with the world’s leading organizations, creating innovative solutions to sustainability challenges and unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunities for future generations.

ERM’s diverse team of 7,500+ world-class experts in over 170 offices across 39 countries supports clients across the breadth of their organizations to operationalize sustainability. Through ERM’s deep technical expertise, clients are well-positioned to address their environmental, health, safety, risk, and social issues. ERM calls this capability its “boots to boardroom” approach - a comprehensive service model that allows ERM to develop strategic and technical solutions that advance objectives on the ground or at the executive level.