IPA appoints first Birmingham head

THE IPA, the professional body for UK advertising, media and marketing communications agencies, has appointed Andy Wilson, Chief Executive of WAA, as its first city head in Birmingham.

Wilson joins three other city heads for Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle to strengthen the organisation’s UK team, and help deliver the most value to the IPA’s 250-member agencies across the country.

The new appointees will serve a two-year term and Wilson will be responsible for helping members across the breadth of the Midlands access IPA services and participate in locally-based activity. He will also act as spokesman for the area, raising awareness of relevant issues and meeting fellow member agencies in the region, whose feedback will form a programme of activity for 2013.

“I’m delighted to have been appointed IPA city head for Birmingham.  The city has a well-respected, thriving creative community and it’s my intention to help build on this; attracting and retaining talent, working with agencies and clients to share best practice, and ensuring Birmingham continues to be a ‘go-to’ location for national and international brands,” said Wilson, who founded WAA in 1986 and has led the growth in the agency organically as well as through a series of acquisitions.

He said that by bringing together the agencies in Birmingham, his role would be to encourage the sharing of best practice, attracting more national and international brands to the region.  This in turn will help to attract and retain the best talent within the city.

New Birmingham office for virtual agency

DIGITAL marketing agency Connecting Element (CE) has set up a new office in Birmingham, despite much of the firm’s work being done remotely.

It said the new base, in Quayside Tower on Broad Street, would be used as a hot-desking and meeting space to serve CE’s clients up and down the UK.
 
Since its inception in 2009, CE now has 65 digital and social specialists all working remotely.  

CE’s founder and CEO Andrew Rastall said: “It’s about getting the balance right. I know it’s ironic – a virtual agency with offices – but we took the decision to acquire some office space to offer everyone a choice, as well as give ourselves a central meeting point. This means we can better serve our growing list of clients, and create more opportunities to meet prospective ones.
 
“While our business model will still be a virtual one, having an office space our consultants can use is a really exciting thing and will offer them even greater flexibility.”
 

R1 Creative targets growth after successful first year

STAFFORDSHIRE digital design agency, R1 Creative, has celebrated its first anniversary with a doubling in turnover during the second half.

The agency deals in all areas of web design, SEO, social media, e-commerce and online marketing. From a two-person operation in a small office in Burslem, the company now employs five members of staff in much larger premises at the Roslyn Works next to the famous Gladstone Pottery Museum.

The intention this year is to expand further and it is now looking to recruit more people in the next six months including a web design apprentice.

Mat O’Connor, managing director, said he was confident the agency’s versatile approach would benefit the company during 2013.

“While others are selling generic ‘off-the-peg’ websites, our focus has been targeting the client’s needs. We like to get to know what our clients are all about and recommend custom-built solutions that specifically address their business needs, helping them to gain that all-important edge on their competitors,” he said.

Pictured from left are: Chun Fung Lam, Rob Stanway, Zoe Twigg and Mat O’Connor.