Staircase advertiser aims for £7m flotation

A company that has patented advertisements that can be displayed running up a flight of steps is to float for about £7m this month.

A company that has patented advertisements that can be displayed running up a flight of steps is to float for about £7m this month.

Media Steps has 420 exclusively contracted sites at railway stations run by the train operators Thameslink and Southern Trains and is in negotiations with three other rail firms for a further 1,200 sites. The company plans to list on AIM via a flotation that will raise £2.5m to fund expansion in the UK and overseas.

It uses a steel frame on the vertical part of the step to run either segments of a whole poster or a simple repeated message. Market surveys have shown that more than four out 10 people recalled seeing the advertising at a sample of stations where Media Steps has a presence, the company said.

Under the flotation the directors, led by the co-founder and managing director, Tony Jansen, will end up with one-fifth of the company, valuing their share at £1.4m. Three large institution shareholders will get 35 per cent of the company.