Dearth of good writers leads to launch of new dedicated copywriting agency
A breed apart: Ormston and Delves and another rare breed, a snow leopard.
Two senior writers from Redpath have left to launch their own copywriting consultancy as an antidote to a dearth of talented writers in Scotland.The consultancy, Henzteeth, has been launched by John Ormston and Stuart Delves, both of whom have been with Redpath for six years working on clients such as Highland Park, Scottish Widows, the Royal Bank of Scotland and ScottishPower. Prior to joining the agency, which was recently the subject of an MBO Stuart had worked at London agencies such as CDP and McCann-Erickson, while John had worked on the client side at Scottish Widows and Dunedin Fund Managers.
The new consultancy is based in Edinburgh and Ormston and Delves are targeting marketing, creative, film and design directors in Scotland.
Ormston said: “We started thinking about doing this in June 2001 after realising that there is a gap in the Scottish marketplace for good experienced copywriters. People have even said to us that good copywriters are as rare as hen’s teeth, which is where the name came from. We have six years’ in-house experience from Redpath, which I believe still remains the only Scottish design consultancy to have in-house writers, and we are now ready to offer that service to clients, not just other design consultancies, but also the advertising, video, film and TV industries.”
Already the company has picked up eight briefs for work, including annual report work for the Edinburgh International Festival and briefs from Scottish Equitable, Bowmore and Scope TV.
Their departure from Redpath has seen MD Richard Irvine appoint senior writer Roger Gray, who will head up the consultancy’s in-house copy team. Gray joins from London-based creative agency Start Design where he worked with clients such as the Royal Mail, The Times, Virgin Mobile and Virgin Atlantic.
Irvine said: “Roger’s skills and experience are a perfect match for Redpath’s words and pictures approach. We’re delighted that he shares our views and look forward to making full use of his talents on some.”