John Watson - Managing Partner
I'm married with 2 children. I started in advertising at 16 as a messenger boy in London's East End. I started my first agency in the 1970s with Drayton Bird and Glenmore Trenear-Harvey, then started WWAV in 1981. Within 5 years it was the largest DM agency in the UK. In 1995 we sold the agency to Omnicom Inc and I continued as Chairman and Chief Executive for a further 6 years, running a group with a turnover of £110 million and staff of 750.
After 2 years 'garden leave' I decided to start a new agency with Maria, Tod, Gail, John and the rest of them, mainly because I prefer 'hands-on' agency life to Madison Avenue corporate politics. I am also non-executive Chairman of Compton and Woodhouse, the china collectable company; I am a Board Director of the DMA; a member of the NSPCC's Full Stop National Appeal Board; Chairman of media specialist Mike Colling and Co; and until recently a Trustee of the Institute of Direct Marketing. And I grow exceptional potatoes.
