I became part of the gyro network in 2007. As the world’s largest business-to-business (B2B) agency, working here has given me a wide global perspective.
Recently, however, my thoughts have returned to a local level. I say “returned” because as a born and bred Mancunian, I (like many) have always had a huge amount of local and civic pride. I believe – as Tony Wilson of Factory Records once opined – that we do things differently here.
Various planets are aligning now, which makes me believe that a regional play in the agency landscape is more credible than ever before.
As we entered the latest recession, I secretly hoped it would address some of the issues of oversupply we have in the sector. But as we emerge out of it, quite the opposite is true: a glut of sole traders and privateers have established themselves as a result of the larger players reducing headcount.
The recession has undoubtedly affected the business landscape here in the UK. Networks followed two distinct approaches to their regional operations, either closing them down to protect their HQs and head offices, or pushing aspects of production into lower-cost regional operations.
The net result has been that many formerly thriving regional agency centres will unlikely recover. Manchester had the critical mass to survive this and we’ve attracted labour and business from other regions. Plus, the city has benefited from the relocation of the BBC to MediaCityUK, providing a great stimulus to our creative community.
It’s also exciting to hear George Osborne describe the city as a northern powerhouse. With Manchester being the first to take control of its own NHS budget, the future looks bright. While some way down the track, the new high-speed railway HS2 will further open up connectivity.
Our New York-based chief executive Christoph Becker came to visit us in Manchester recently. He observed the age-old adage of people being noticeably open and friendly. It’s an observation backed up by recent gyro research carried out in the UK in partnership with YouGov, which demonstrated that businesses in the north are emotionally positive about change – and of course, change is rampant as we move out from the recession.
While the south will remain important to us, it is increasingly clear that massive opportunity also exists in the north, especially when it is aligned with a strong global network.
As we continue to emerge from the downturn, the regions will have a larger impact on the global agency landscape than ever before. That’s good news for local, national and global clients and, of course, my fellow Mancunians.
Danny Turnbull is managing director of gyro Manchester
This advertisement feature is brought to you by the Marketing Agencies Association, sponsors of the Guardian Media Network’s Agencies hub
