Iris to expand after winning £5m loan funding

Iris, which provides services in advertising, direct and digital marketing, public relations and sales promotion, plans to use the three-year loan to expand overseas.

It will open offices in places such as Hong Kong, Brazil, Russia and South Africa to add to the offices it has already opened in New York, Sydney, Delhi and Singapore.

Iris was chosen as the London winner from a shortlist of five finalists that included: Beauquest, which owns a late night Brazilian live music bar and restaurant in central London; Brompton Bicycle, which makes folding bicycles; Logic 3, which distributes computer and video gaming accessories; and Super Toughened Glass, which makes toughened glass for use in domestic and commercial construction.

Iris has grown by 50% every year since it was established in 1999. It now has a turnover of about £30m and clients including Adidas, Shell, Sony Ericsson and American Express.

Adrian Grace, managing director of commercial business at Bank of Scotland Corporate, said that the judges were particularly impressed by Iris Worldwide's strong management team.

Ian Millner, Iris Worldwide's joint chief executive, said that he and his colleagues set up Iris because they believed that they could do better than the big agencies and that the aim of the expansion plan was to create a real alternative to the traditional global agency model.

Millner said: "The thing that makes us different at Iris is that we have a culture which is very positive and supportive. We have people with strong personalities who are very instinctive and intuitive, and there is a very strong sense of camaraderie, togetherness and team spirit."

This article was first published on brandrepublic.com