2 Indies, 1 island: Ardmore Backs Bonfire

The Belfast group takes a stake in a Dublin original and opens the door to all-island scale

Bonfire has spent two decades building one of Dublin’s most respected independent creative shops. Now it has a new backer and a bigger engine behind it.

Belfast-based Ardmore has taken a minority stake in the agency, funding a growth plan that includes expanding Bonfire’s footprint at 22 Ely Place. Bonfire stays a proudly independent Irish brand under co-founder Seán Hynes, who took full equity control after fellow founder Ian Doherty retired in 2025.

A Belfast group bets on a Dublin original

Bonfire was founded in 2005, and the team has always been happy to make some noise. Twenty years on, the work has earned four Effie Awards, including a Gold, and a client roster spanning Johnson & Johnson, Kia, Tullamore Dew and the Irish Pharmacy Union.

Ardmore is the largest marketing and advertising group in Northern Ireland and part of the Worldwide Partners network of independent agencies. For the group, the deal is a credible route into the Dublin market, and an all-island pairing of two independents rather than a buyout.

“The dedication to award-winning, effective creative work, shown by the team at Bonfire over the years, was what drew us to them,” said John Keane, chairman and CEO of Ardmore Group. “The wonderful people they are is what brought the deal to life.”

What the partnership opens up

For Bonfire, the agreement opens up resources it didn’t have on its own. That means direct access to skill sets across the Ardmore Group: media planning, e-commerce, performance marketing, brand experience, public relations and government affairs. It also funds a larger team and the expanded office at Ely Place.

Ardmore gets a foothold in Dublin and a new all-island offering for its clients. Bonfire becomes its base in the market, and keeps the independent identity that made it worth backing.

Same fire, bigger room

For Hynes, the deal came down to people who get along.

“Everyone at Bonfire is really excited about the news, which allows us to keep the momentum going on our recent growth,” said Hynes. “A big factor in the decision process was the like-minded cultural fit on a human level. It’s always nice to work with nice people.”

That fit matters here. Bonfire keeps its name, its creative leadership and its independence, and gains the scale of a larger group behind it. Both sides are betting on the same thing: keep what works, and give it more to work with.