Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Board members managing director Alison Meadows and finance director Anne Marchini led a management buy-out with design creative director Richard Bland, board account director Gareth Brookman and advertising creative director Dale Haste.

They acquired Robert Ware’s shareholding, allowing him to step down as chairman after 20 years in the role. No figures for the deal are being released.

Alison Meadows said: “Establishing and helping to drive a leading integrated agency for so long is a tremendous achievement and, along with the whole WAR family, we thank Robert for his passion, energy and unswerving commitment to the cause.”

She continued: “One of WAR’s great strengths in its development has been the consistency and quality of the relationship within the management team, which has been in place over the last decade.

“That team is very excited about the opportunity to take the business forward while recognising that every business, particularly in a creative industry, needs to encourage and develop new talent. We believe we’ve got the balance right.”

To coincide with the changes, Head of PR Kerris Macauley is appointed to the agency’s management board, recognising her contribution to the growth of WAR’s PR business.

The team was advised on the MBO by John Short and Nick Mayles of Taylor Vinters; Ivor McTighe and Martin Church of LloydsTSB; and Stuart Henderson and George Atterbury of Deloittes.

WAR provides a seamless communications service for a host of clients in B2C, B2B and healthcare sectors, bringing together talented and creative individuals with specific expertise in their own fields.

The agency disciplines of advertising, design, public relations, interactive and direct marketing are blended to give clients holistic, strategic and creative campaigns, or offered independently to suit client needs.

WAR works with international and national companies based across the UK and overseas including: Multiyork, Letts Educational, Van Dal, Acushnet (Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra), Huntsman (Araldite), Corinthian, Plasti-kote, Datanomic, Redstone Communications, Linx Printing Technologies, Visa Europe, Zapf Creation, Stream Foods, Zeus Technology, East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and Cambridgeshire Horizons.