Although Velocity is based in the UK, 70% of its revenues come from US-based clients, which include Sprint, Xerox and Informatica.

Velocity was  founded by Doug Kessler and Stan Woods in 2000 and both will remain in the business after its sale.

The acquisition is expected to cost £4.9m in cash, with the balance met by 251,966 of new ordinary shares in Next 15. There may be an additional payment depending on its average profits over the next five years.

For the year ended 30 April 2017, Velocity reported net revenues of £5.2m, adjusted profit before tax of £1.35m and net assets of £2.1m.

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next 15, said: "Data-driven content marketing is the fastest growing part of the marketing mix right now. This is a key area of investment for us going forward. Velocity has built an impressive business with a strong B2B focus. At its core is a strong management team that shares our vision and values."