Mon, 27 Oct 2025 | BUSINESS SALE
Human Magic Limited, an employer brand agency based in Liverpool, has been rescued out of administration in a pre-pack deal. Despite a global presence and recent acquisitive growth, the company had reportedly suffered as a result of macroeconomic headwinds this year.
Ben Woodthorpe and Simon Jagger of S&W Partners were appointed as joint administrators of the company on October 13 2025 and subsequently completed a pre-pack sale of the firm’s business and assets to HMNMGC Limited, a related party.
The company, which was formerly trading as PH Creative Limited, rebranded as Human Magic last year, when it was acquired by new owners along with a US subsidiary. The firm has expanded through M&A this year, acquiring Manchester-based agency Tap In and breaking into the Australian market by acquiring the employer branding practice of Sydney-based agency Eloquent.
This growth gave the company operations that spanned the UK, US, the Middle East and Australia but it emerged earlier this month that it had fallen into administration. According to a report from S&W Partners, the company’s financial performance had been significantly impacted by a series of macroeconomic factors during the first half of the year.
Despite undertaking restructuring efforts, including cost-cutting, the administrators said that Human Magic was unable to reduce operating expenses sufficiently to facilitate a return to profitability.
The company’s Chief Executive, Mark Hardwicke, sought restructuring advice in late July, with S&W Partners formally engaged to conduct an accelerated sale process the following month.
However, after a marketing period it was decided that the route most likely to preserve the business would be a sale via a formal insolvency process, with the joint administrators subsequently appointed and the pre-pack sale completed. Human Magic’s 30 staff currently working in the UK at the time of the administration have all transferred to the buyer in line with TUPE regulations.
Commenting after the sale, Chief Executive Mark Hardwicke said that challenging trading conditions were being felt across the industry and that the decision to restructure the business was taken in order to ensure its long-term viability as a global agency and provide a stronger foundation for continued growth.
In accounts for the year to March 31 2025, Human Magic Limited’s fixed assets were valued at around £211,000 and current assets at £2.3 million, with net assets amounting to approximately £39,000.
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