Cello to retain Leith, Target, Insight teams

The Cello Group, the company planning to buy The Leith Advertising Agency, Target Direct and Insight, says that all management teams will be retained.

Cello has been created as a holding company for the three agencies and plans a flotation on the Alternative Investment Market.

The agencies involved are owned by their respective senior management teams. The architects behind Cello, executive chairman Kevin Steeds and chief executive Mark Scott, say that the personnel will stay in place.

At Leith, this includes chairman John Denholm, chief executive officer John Rowley, managing director Phil Adams and, at Leith London, managing director Jeremy Pyne.

For Cheltenham-based Target Direct, a specialist in the non-profit sector, this includes chairman Stephen Pidgeon and executive creative director Nick Thomas.

The third agency being acquired is healthcare market research company Insight.

Scott says that all agency names will remain in place and that the agencies will continue to operate independently. Leith’s clients include Coors, Goodfellas Pizza, Hotpoint, Irn-Bru and the Scottish Executive.

He adds: “This is not a sell-out in the conventional way. The core managers will be shareholders of the company. The main concern at this point is to make sure that the company’s employees and clients are protected.”

Steeds is a former founding director of Citigate Communications and executive director of Incepta.

Scott is a former operations director for WPP and executive vice-president of Lighthouse Global Network.