REaD Group buys pay-as-you-go preference service

Suppression specialist The REaD Group has acquired direct marketing preference service My Right To Be Private (MRTBP) for an undisclosed sum.

The online business, which launched earlier this year, aims to protect consumers from unsolicited product marketing. It charges subscribers for services including having their names removed from lists used by the top 50 UK client companies and being added to the Mailing Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service.

REaD Group chief executive Mark Roy said: “My Right To Be Private will deliver significant added value to our 1,600 clients as well as securing our position as the major conduit between the direct marketing industry and consumers.”

MRTBP’s website has been closed to new subscribers, while the REaD Group redevelops the service. This is to make it “mutually beneficial for the industry and consumers”, according to The REaD Group.

Roy signalled that the acquisition was the start of his plans to influence the direct marketing industry to take account of consumer choice.

“Respect for consumer choice should be paramount and they should be given the ability to choose how they are communicated with and by whom,” he said.

The REaD Group includes TRG Strata, which is the ninth-biggest list manager in the UK, according to Marketing Direct’s 2005 league table.