Creative studio Meanwhile has moved to bring in several new faces as the agency continues to expand, including design leader Duncan Bancroft to lead on design output and be part of the newly formed leadership team.
Bancroft joins from McCann, where he led creative on accounts such as Santander, Qatar Airways, Vax and Frosty Jacks, with his work recognised by Campaign Big, New York Festivals and Roses.
He will also rekindle an award-winning working relationship with founders James Cross and Tim Jones, as the trio have previously worked closely together at both McCann and Big.
Joining Bancroft is the highly regarded senior designer Abbie Franks, who joins after 10 years at McCann Manchester working with brands such as Aldi, Matalan, Foxes Buscuits and Magnet Kitchens, and again is rejoining forces with the Meanwhile founders.
Ben Connell joins as senior account director from T&P, where he was also a senior account director. Connell will lead the agency’s relationships on clients such as tombola, Comic Relief and Gigaclear.
Former BBC Creative staffer, Jess Fenton, joins the agency as senior producer from broadcaster DAZN, to expand Meanwhile’s production capabilities.
Also joining from McCann, where he was a Creative Apprentice, is Alex Dinu, who will support across the agency in their day to day operations.
Meanwhile founder and CEO Alastair Marchant shared his excitement: “This lot are a coup, in all seriousness. Dunc is a dream hire. He is one of the greats and finally said yes after years of chasing. Abbie is a beacon of brilliance, Ben is someone we have long admired, Jess is an absolute force, and Alex is pure potential and will have a long and admirable career I’m sure. I say none of this lightly.
“To be what we want Meanwhile to be, we have to invest and hire who we deem to be the very best, and that’s where these fine humans come in.”
Meanwhile was founded in 2022 by BAFTA-winning former BBC Creative directors James Cross and Tim Jones, along with former Chapter managing director, Al Marchant. The agency was promptly named a rare non-London-based Campaign Start-Up Agency of the Year and its clients include tombola, Travel Supermarket, Comic Relief, Chester Zoo, Coventry Building Society, parkrun, East Midlands Railway, Netflix and Gigaclear.
