The lowdown on Undercurrent
Full-time staff: 25
Established: 2001
Longest-served client: Carphone Warehouse
Turnover: £6.8m
Sectors: Retail, tech, telco, luxury, fintech
Meet the team
NEVILLE CLOSE, group account director
Establishing a student-focused agency, called Campus Marketing, early on equipped Close with a well-rounded understanding of the industry.
After he sold the company, Close worked at agencies Tribe Marketing and The Field, before joining Undercurrent at the end of 2014.
How did you get to where you are today?
Fundamentally, through a lot of hard work and endeavour.
I founded a student marketing agency at the beginning of my career and spent five years growing that. It gave me experience right across the board, from seeing campaigns taking shape creatively and leading the conversation with the client, to executing the work and being on the road with the team to deliver it.
I then fell into Tribe Marketing, where I worked for nearly eight years, before moving on to The Field.
What does your day-to-day work entail?
I liaise very closely with a number of clients on a regular basis, to really understand their challenges. Internally, I guide the team to make sure we are delivering exactly what we say we are going to deliver.
What do you love about working at Undercurrent?
The growth within the agency is exciting, and it's also an exciting time to be working in the industry - certainly within technology.
Even over the past three to six months we have seen a massive change in the types of briefs we receive, so we can really lead innovation in a lot of responses to those briefs, which is fantastic.
The team culture is amazing here; it is always a very proud moment to see the work we deliver every week.
SOPHIE FARNHAM, account director
A suggestion from a friend that she join Undercurrent as an intern fuelled Farnham's foray into the industry, and six-and-a-half-years later, she hasn't looked back.
How did you end up at Undercurrent?
After university I toured with a show, and upon my return a friend suggested I work at Undercurrent. They thought I would like it.
I started as an account executive, and then, because I studied design at university, I trained to do the print and design work for Undercurrent, then became creative account manager.
From there I decided I was more interested in the account side of things, so I became a senior account manager, and moved into my current role nearly a year ago.
What's the culture like?
It's great; we call ourselves the 'currents' and are very social. We go out for drinks, take part in football tournaments and do a lot for charity.
We all support each other, especially in highly pressurised situations, with deadlines imminent.
What's your remit?
A lot of my time is spent managing clients and forecasting what they want to do over the next month, as well as the next three, six and 12 months.
I currently manage a team of eight, so I work with them to make sure that the events they are doing are what the client has briefed in, and that everyone is both happy and working well together.
SEGUN MALOMO, event producer
Malomo has nearly five years of industry experience under his belt. He joined agency Brand and Deliver in 2011, and landed his current role at Undercurrent just under a year ago.
What led you to a career in events?
I have always had the desire to get my hands on the newest technology, and events allow you to play with toys, gadgets and materials that would normally be unobtainable.I love tech, so my job is as much a hobby as it is a career.
What do you love most about your role?
Incorporating the technology into a brief. I've never really been one to say, 'Here is a brief, let's just fulfil it', it's always about how we can push things further.
It can get a bit tense and stressful sometimes, because you're not doing your job the easy way, but you end up delivering activations that are so compelling and engaging, they really put us at the forefront as a company.
How do you see your career progressing at Undercurrent?
The briefs we get are a lot more diverse than they once were. It means that as a production department we have grown and are being challenged more, which is good. I hope I'll be able to help lead that development of the department.
Around the corner
Undercurrent is halfway through its three-year plan, which sees the agency bring experience-led content and technological innovation to the heart of its offering.
Future events
More summer festival activity, including activations at House Festival, which is organised by Soho House UK.
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