Admiral

How would you sum up 2009 for your agency?

A year when the agency has grown from short into long trousers.

What was the high point of 2009 for your agency?

There is not one single high but lots of them. We won lots of big name clients, attracted some top talent and grew in a recession.

What was the low point of 2009 for your agency?

Moving people on that don’t fit with the Admiral culture.

Please give an overview of your staffing through 2009, including significant hires and internal promotions.

We hired a client services director onto the board. We promoted 40 per cent of the team into more senior roles. We met Stephen Waddington from Speed (who we have since recruited as non-exec chairman).

What was your best client/account win of 2009 and why?

It’s a tie. Newcastle University hired us following a nationally competitive pitch to deliver their international corporate positioning strategy and then again, to deliver a corporate positioning PR campaign around ageing and health. They are clever people that are really great to work with and understand the benefits of external strategic and creative support.

Benenden Healthcare Society comes in at joint first. They ran a 26-way competitive pitch process against all the specialist healthcare agencies and big players and they put their faith in us. We have a great working relationship with them – they continually innovate.

What were your three best campaigns of 2009?

• Launch of Manchester Children’s Hospital – the largest children’s hospital in Europe, for the Central Manchester and Universities NHS Foundation Trust
• Launch of the Infinity Bridge in Stockton for Tees Valley Regeneration
• Devon Rural Road Safety campaign for Devon County Council

How did the recession affect your performance in 2009 and what trends did you notice throughout the year – e.g. clients taking longer to sign off budgets etc?

Budgets were clearly affected. We have had to work harder for our money and focus much more on measurement and evaluation to justify our existence. Margins have been slightly affected but are already bouncing back. We stayed confident throughout and took decisions that have led us to be leaner and fitter than ever before and generally in better shape.

Of which achievement in 2009 are you most proud?

Our reputation in the North East has mushroomed – we now need to replicate that nationally.

Describe your agency in five words

Intelligent, innovative, distinctive, strategic, fun.

How have you embraced social media in 2009?

Totally – we have recruited specialists and we have invested heavily in social media tools and training our staff. Social media forms a key part of every single campaign we create for our clients, without exception.

What are your plans for 2010?

Deliver a planned programme of aggressive growth including opening an office in Manchester and to prepare for Scottish, Leeds, and Irish office openings in the coming years. We are establishing new systems to prepare us for this growth and introducing more science into the business so we can measure it effectively.

If your agency were an animal, what animal would it be and why?

A bear - Intelligent, strong, cuddly but aggressive if it needs to be, protects its own and good at fishing (for clients).