Design agencies merge to form Siren

Siren launches with 40 staff and an office in London's Soho. Clients include Jo Malone, Cotton US, the BBC and Pinewood Studios. It is forecasting turnover of £4.5m in its first year of trading.

The agency is being run by five directors: Rob Hawkins, previously owner of Thin Air; and Jim Henderson, Matt Nimmo, Phil Birchall and Tim Catherall, all of whom worked for Kugel.

Hawkins said: "The directors of Siren have known each other for 10 or more years and this seemed like a natural progression for both businesses. We were both looking to move our businesses forward and, once we started talking about, it became increasingly clear that there was an extraordinary level of complimentary skills, clients and business philosophy."

This article was first published on brandrepublic.com