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Last year, ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 asked whether Isobel was the agency that refused to grow up. This wasn’t so much a criticism as an observation. An agency that approaches everything it does with a childlike enthusiasm belies a company now in its 15th year. And 2017 was no exception.

Its "Isobelly Laughs" comedy nights continued packing ’em in. And what would Christmas be without the Isobel Christmas card which, last year, saw staff dressed as the cast of Peter Pan. What’s more, Isobel’s quirky personality continued being reflected in TV spots for ice-cream brand Kelly’s of Cornwall, with the ads spoken entirely in the Cornish language.

Alas, it wasn’t allowed to extend its oddball creative approach with Danepak. Having got the Danish bacon brand on to TV for the first time in four years, Isobel found the relationship terminated as Danepak cut all ad investment to concentrate on own-label products.

There was better news at the year’s end, however, when Isobel won a four-way pitch for Gala Leisure with a brief to help the bingo club operator stem the tide towards online gambling. Wealthify, the online investment service, and toy-tech brand Tech Will Save Us were among other arrivals adding cheer to a year in which the agency delivered a record profit on the back of some arresting work for Savills, the estate agency chain, and Hammerson, Britain’s biggest shopping-centre owner.

Meanwhile, Isobel bolstered its offering with the launch of an activation division, deepened its digital and content capabilities and extended its summer school programme, allowing post-GCSE teenagers to experience the industry. So the agency does have a serious side, after all.