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John Harlow, managing director of Rocket, is to leave the agency to set up a new creative media shop.

Harlow, has teamed up with two colleagues from New PHD, creative communications director Jon Wilkins and communications strategist Will Collins, to establish a new agency, focusing on strategic and creative planning tasks.

David Pattison, chief executive of New PHD, said that he was sorry to see Harlow, Wilkins and Collins go. “We’re an agency full of talented people and from time-to-time they’re bound to want to strike out on their own,” he said. “New PHD was started in exactly the same way 10 years ago so we can’t complain too much when our people want to try it for themselves.”

“The whole company is based on talent and enterprise,” added New PHD managing partner Jonathan Durden, “and enterprising people are hard to hold on to.”

It was too early to say whether the positions would be filled internally or externally, said Durden. It was also feasible that the new agency would work with New PHD in some way, he added.

Harlow’s departure will be a serious blow to Rocket, which has built up a reputation for creative media planning since its inception in 1996. The agency won Media Week awards in 1998 and 1999. Clients include Kiss, Granada and News International Digital Publishing.

Harlow was appointed to the post of managing director in February 1997. Prior to that, he worked alongside Wilkins and Durden, running the creative communications department at New PHD.