The agency, called Barraclough Edwards Chamberlain, officially opened for business on Monday July 7, with clients Emap Automotive, the Institute of Direct Marketing and animal charity Brook Hospital, which looks after working horses and donkeys in the developing world.
According to Barraclough, former chairman of Proximity, the agency has already passed its first month's targets after only a day or two of trading. However, he says that the agency's objective right now is survival.
The agency is also in the throes of an aggressive new-business acquisition programme, and Barraclough says he has seen evidence that there is quite a lot of new business around.
"I think things are picking up," he said. "There are not the big monolithic pitches that there used to be, but there is certainly business out there at a lower level."
The agency's first work is a subscription drive for Emap's company car title Fleet News, which uses inserts, outserts, email and ads to encourage subscribers to renew their contracts.
For Brook Hospital, the agency aims to raise the profile of the charity, which despite having an income of 拢3m to 拢4m a year is not very well known.
The agency's work for the IDM will start with the promotion of two agency training courses that launch in September.
Writer Barraclough works alongside his long-term creative partner, art director Steve Edwards. Account management is handled by Nic Chamberlain, former account director at EHS Brann.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .