AllofUs ends four year tie-up with McCann Worldgroup to return to independent ownership
AllofUs, the interaction design and user-experience studio acquired by McCann Worldgroup in 2011, has been sold back to its principals for an undisclosed sum.
The changeover will see AllofUs co-founders Nick Cristea, Orlando Mathias and Phil Gerrard remain in-situ although co-founder and art director Simon Sankarayya will depart to pursue other opportunities whilst retaining a stake in the business.
Mark Lund, CEO of McCann Worldgroup UK commented: “McCann and AllofUs have enjoyed a terrific partnership over the last four years. But as we’ve increasingly emphasized the integration of digital across all of our capabilities, we recognized on both sides that AllofUs, which has been intact as a London standalone unit, would be better positioned for growth if it returned to independent ownership. We and they have gained a lot from the last four years, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with their excellent teams on some shared client assignments.”
Phil Gerrard, AllofUs co-founder and MD, added: “Over the last few years we have increasingly adopted more hybrid product development techniques through our work for tech and start-up businesses. We want to build on this experience via a new operating model, so we can work as true partners, with a real stake.”
AllofUs was a trailblazer in the fields of digital product and service design, working with Sky, Telegraph Media Group and Xbox Live. More recently it has been involved with projects for The British Museum, Google and IKEA.