“Schools marketing is an area that has tremendous growth prospects – the company has some really smart people and they have a niche in the area,” said Paperhat chief executive Tim Peppiatt on the latest acquisition.

“There are real synergies here. It will feed things like in-house creative studios for schools and there is some aggregation opportunity in terms of print management, but more importantly it gets us talking to people about how we can drive better ROI for schools,” he added.

Peppiatt wouldn’t be drawn on the value of investment or the percentage stake Paperhat has acquired in the Twickenham-based firm. The 10-staff business, which has a turnover of around £900,000, will now come under the Paperhat Group umbrella but retains its own brand, while all staff, except co-founder Macia Grebot, who is to step down, will remain under managing director Isabella Donnelly.

As well as marketing for schools, Grebot Donnelly provides PR and communication services for local authorities, trusts, sponsors and academies in England. Peppiatt said the group was looking to recruit around three extra members of staff for the operation.

The deal is the latest in a line of acquisitions for Paperhat over the past three years that have included creative agency Reputation by Design and high-end production studio FTP Digital, as well as social media and marketing company Consorcio Group.

“We have made offers on three more businesses that have been accepted in principle, and we expect sign-off by April or May this year,” Peppiatt said. He would not reveal whether the pipeline acquisitions were UK-based but said they all specialised in “complementary areas to the business”.

Peppiatt said that as a result of both this acquisitive expansion and organic growth, which saw openings in Germany, Poland and Indonesia in 2013, the business has tripled profits since 2011 and anticipates a turnover of £17m in 2014/15.