WHERE there’s muck there’s brass, they say.
Unfortunately there’s now no Brass and a bit of a mess.
The Leeds creative agency with a pedigree which goes back decades and an alumni list of talent that stretches out across Yorkshire to London and beyond, is no more.
It took years to build and appeared to disappear in a flash.
The firm, which provided a full range of marketing services to local, national and global organisations, went into administration last week with all 60 members of staff losing their jobs.
It is a sad end for a business that had a great reputation and was responsible for launching many careers in PR, marketing, digital and branding.
It began its life as Brahm – named after the first letters of the surnames of its five founding directors – and is probably still better known by that name despite the rebrand, which at the time I thought was a bit strange – to Brass some years ago.
Brahm bought the digital business Swamp and needed to embrace that sector so changed its name.
I couldn’t quite see how it worked – ‘where’s there’s muck there’s brass’ does really explain it and why name yourself after the slang expression for a prostitute?
Courtesan works better for me.
You might ask what’s the difference between a courtesan and a brass?
About 200 quid I believe.
Anyway the news of the demise of Brass was greeted with an emotional outpouring from the creative sector – many tears were shed into pumpkin spiced skinny lattes.
I can understand it.
The agency was a great place to work and a shining beacon that helped put Leeds on the map.
There were two big agencies in the creative and marketing world that did that – Brahm and Poulters, back in the day.
Three weeks before Christmas a lot of talented people that worked at Brass are now looking for jobs.
It isn’t a good situation to be in but if the goodwill from former colleagues, rivals and the wider creative community is anything to go by, there are opportunities for them out there.
Some of the public comments appeared less about offering support and perhaps a little more opportunistic.
Scottish-based but national Beattie Communications said it was willing to dip into an “investment war chest” to prevent other agencies going to the wall following the demise of Brass.
Gordon Beattie, chairman of Beattie Communications, which has an office in Leeds, said he could help to prevent other agencies from suffering a similar fate.
“What happened with Brass was a tragedy that should never have occurred,” he said. “Brass was a great agency with a proud history and a hugely talented team. I’m confident we could have turned that business around had they come to us for help.
“Times are tough across the marketing and communications sector but a few agencies, like ourselves, are bucking the trend and doing rather well.”
Thanks Gordon, you win the 2019 Victor Kiam award.
Just think, if he had bought Brass he could have rebranded his business: Crass.
Beattie CEO Laurna Woods added: “We are prepared to invest in PR, digital, social, creative and content firms anywhere in the UK or Ireland.
“What’s more, we’re always looking for fresh talent so we’d love to hear from staff at Brass who have been made redundant as a result of the agency folding.”
It should save them plenty in recruitment fees.
Their proclamation was accompanied by the photograph below.
I thought it was a promotional shot from the 1980s US soap opera dynasty.
Once the dust settles the question that must be asked about Brass is how this happened?
I’m sure managing director John Morgan will be feeling pretty bruised but questions must be asked.
I thought there might be problems at Brass when I saw stories in the local business press a few weeks ago which said the headquarters of Brass on Alma Road in Headingley was up for sale.
Well, the stories actually said a big, historic building in Headingley was on the market – none of the journalists who wrote – sorry, cut and pasted – the stories knew it was the home of Brass or bothered to ask the question about which company was based there.
That was clearly an attempt by the directors to either raise funds or their hands had been forced by creditors – probably the bank.
What is terribly poignant is that one of the retired founders, Mike Baxandall, the ‘B’ in Brahm, had a serious heart attack the day before the news emerged about Brass.
‘Baxy’ as he is affectionately known, is gravely ill.
This is all so terribly sad.
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IT was nice to catch up with old friend Professor Martin Clarke this week.
Martin now lives in Devon with his wife Mary and was back in Harrogate visiting friends.
We caught up for a curry at Cardamom Black and I asked Martin if was enjoying retirement.
He stepped down as head of geography at the University of Leeds last year.
And he is one of those unusual people – an entrepreneurial academic.
Martin founded GMAP, one of the largest ever academic spin-off companies, eventually selling it to an American company in 1997 before setting up a second company and selling it to Skipton Building Society which created an information business called Callcredit.
Callcredit was acquired by US counterpart TransUnion last year for £1bn.
Using his geographical mapping skills, Martin worked with clients including Asda and its US owner, the world’s largest retailer Wal-Mart, as well as Ford, ExxonMobil, Shell, Sainsbury’s, IKEA, HSBC and HBOS to plot where they should target new sites.
As well as being entrepreneurial Martin has another unusual characteristic for an academic – he’s good company.
He recounted some hilarious stories from the trip he went on when he retired – inter-railing across Europe.
While he keeps in touch with many of his old GMAP and Leeds University colleagues, Martin said he isn’t missing the world of academia.
He said the changes in how universities operate was brought home to him when a student he had given mark of 57 out of 100 for some course work, demanded a meeting with him.
“He came into my office and said: ‘I’m not paying nine effing grand a year to get a 57’!”
“I said his tuition fees were an entry fee to university, not a guarantee of what marks he would get.
“He then told me his father was a barrister and he was going to sue me over the marking!”
As you might imagine for a down-to-earth bloke from Burnley, Martin gave the student short shrift.
:::
WHEN I set up COPA Group I had a target in mind that we would aim to be involved in an event every week.
Of course there are weeks when no events take place and others where we are involved in putting on more than one.
And there are weeks like last week when I did an event every day.
I mentioned my roving reporter role at the Welcome to Yorkshire White Rose Awards in last week’s blog.
That was last Monday evening. On the Tuesday morning I was at the offices of the international law firm Eversheds Sutherland to host a question and answer session with the new chairman of Welcome to Yorkshire, Peter Box.
Then on Wednesday it was off to the brand new offices of law firm Walker Morris in Leeds to host a panel discussion at an event they were holding for in house lawyers.
On Thursday it was off to Manchester to set up for the conference and dinner we were organising for wealth management and law firm Progeny.
It was a long but really enjoyable week in which I spent time with great people and learned a great deal.
And was so busy I didn’t get into any mischief.
:::
THIS time last week I was straightening my tie, adjusting my waistcoat and tweaking my script for the Progeny annual conference.
If you are not familiar with Progeny, it is a Leeds-based national wealth management and law firm which is the fastest growing financial services firm in Britain.
I can testify to that because last year we organised their conference for 64 people and this year 138 turned up.
Progeny chief executive Neil Moles is a young, dynamic and driven individual who has a vision to create a group which operates and delivers differently.
It currently manages £2.1bn of funds for its clients.
Its numbers are impressive…but they’ll be bigger next year.
I saw evidence of how Progeny are challenging a very traditional industry during the day I spent hosting their annual conference at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester.
And I saw ample evidence of their growth when they signed two acquisition deals just before the conference started.
We helped shape the programme for the day and suggested the venues – the Lowry for the day and the stunning Gorton Monastery for their dinner and awards in the evening.
We suggested three guest speakers for the conference and for a firm with more female directors than male it was important to get the right balance – without trying to just tick boxes.
Timing is everything and so when we booked our first guest speaker we knew she was good.
Two gold medals at London 2012 followed by another three further gold medals at Rio 2016.
And world records at 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres and 1,500 metres.
Yes that’s pretty good!
But timing in sport, like in business, is everything and so just two weeks ago at the World Championships in Dubai our speaker won her 11th world title in a world record time.
It was no wonder one of Great Britain’s greatest Paralympians, Hannah Cockcroft MBE, got a standing ovation from the audience.
Bubbly, extravert and with a beaming smile, Hannah was a great first speaker.
If I said our second speaker was the complete opposite, then you might have thought we had made a bad mistake.
But, as they say in boxing, styles make fights and Jason Mallinson’s lugubrious, unperturbable persona worked so well.
You probably haven’t heard of Jason, but you will know what he has achieved.
Even in this world of mass media, 24 hour news channels and social media, rarely does a story capture worldwide attention.
And sadly, the news stories that do make the headlines across the world often are about terror attacks, natural disasters or shocking crimes.
But just sometimes a story that could have ended in tragedy has a positive outcome thanks to extraordinary human heroism.
One such story took place last year and you, like many others across the world, will have been watching with a mixture of hope and fear.
In June 2018 12 members of a junior football team and their coach were trapped in a flooded cave in the Chiang Rai province of Thailand.
For 18 days the world watched as frantic efforts were made to rescue the boys.
The international team that took part in the rescue mission was led by four British divers.
Jason Mallinson was one of them.
And Jason rescued four of the stranded boys.
He recounted the story of the dramatic rescue with such humility in a matter-of-fact fashion that it added to the drama.
I knew the outcome of his story but I was still wondering how it would end.
The final photo of his presentation shows him emerging from muddy water in his diving gear.
I said the photo wasn’t so much Jason Mallinson from Huddersfield, more Hollywood’s Jason Statham.
As if to underline his down-to-earth approach, Jason turned to me and said: “It’s funny, a lot of the Thai rescue team said I looked like Jason Statham. I couldn’t see it myself.
“But I don’t mind if he plays me in the Hollywood film of the rescue.”
The speakers punctuated a packed day-long programme in which Progeny took a look back at where it has come from and looked forward to where it is going.
I was impressed by how much this firm thinks about how it does business, how it treats its team and the ethics it embodies.
We aimed to make the whole day engaging, enjoyable and fulfilling.
When I hosted a business-focussed panel discussion with Progeny’s directors I loved the fact that they wanted it to be relaxed and lively.
The final speaker, Mandy Hickson, told the story of being only the second woman fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force.
During a 17-year career she completed three tours of duty and 45 combat missions over Iraq.
Mandy admitted she was a huge fan of the Hollywood blockbuster Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise, when she was growing up.
And when she finally made it as a fighter pilot in the RAF she hoped she would gain a nickname like in the film – such as Maverick, Iceman, Hollywood or Stinger.
“But as a six foot tall woman fighter pilot I was given the name…Big Bird!”
Have a great weekend.