The way they were

Mike Kemsley, the advertising director of Barkers, has quit the agency to launch a start-up. Kemsley – who has been at Barkers for six and a half years – is working his notice and will leave at the end of the year. He joined the agency from The Morgan Partnership, now Merle, where he had been for four years. He confirmed to The Drum that he was to leave, but said it was too early to confirm his agency’s name or client list.
“I have always wanted to launch my own agency and I felt it was time to make a move,” he said. “I resigned a couple of months ago and I will leave the agency on 31st December. I think the opportunity is now ripe for me to set up an agency. I’m still contracted to Barkers until the end of the year and I will be giving the agency 100% commitment.”
Kemsley’s resignation marks a series of senior departures in the last year, most recently joint creative directors Nick Lang and Norrie Leckie who were made redundant in April. The search for a replacement for them was abandoned last month. Speculation around their redundancy put the decision down to the Scottish Executive – one of Barkers’ key clients – expanding its roster. It is also thought the agency had a replacement in line before the redundancies, but they decided not to join the agency.
Of the 10-strong management line-up that was put in place when managing director Chris Wallace took over at the agency in 2003, only 4 remain. PR director, Arvind Salwan left in February while Andy Jones, left in June 2004, after just 15 months in his role. Jones now runs Cloudline Consulting. Alan Kelly, MD of recruitment advertising, and Ron Fotheringham, financial director, both retired last summer.
Commenting on the changes an industry insider said that it would be interesting to watch where Barkers go from here. “It appears to be an uncertain time for Barkers with these departures,” he said. “It will be interesting to see if it can return to its former, stable glory.”