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It was time for us to embrace the energy of the city, says TBWA/Manchester chief

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The chief executive of TBWA/Manchester has welcomed his agency’s move and said it had been actually planning a move to Manchester city centre for “a number of years”.

The agency had been based in Didsbury since 1999 but relocated to a former packaging warehouse called Canada House on Monday as part of Omnicom Group’s network-wide move to create increased efficiencies.

PHD, The Marketing Arm and TRO are also involved in the multi-million-pound move, which will see around 120 staff – 75 of them from TBWA – share infrastructure at the new base but retain separate identities.

And Fergus McCallum said the continued “gentrification” of Didsbury had meant the agency had already been looking to move.

“As an agency with a rich Northern heritage and the global muscle of a truly international brand, we believed that it was important to fully embrace the energy and culture of the city,” he told us.

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Inside TBWA/Manchester’s new home in Canada House


“But having made the decision, we had to find the right property. It was an exhaustive search and we’ve probably been courted by pretty much every new development over the past few years. We wanted to find somewhere that reflected Manchester’s historical place on the world stage; provided the foundation to develop a unique creative environment; and gave our people somewhere they’d be proud to call home.

“Finally we found Canada House and fell in love with the building’s story and the possibility of creating a truly inspirational workspace. In doing this we have reimagined the original work purpose of the building and recreated a modern creative version.”

McCallum said he had viewed other potential locations in Spinningfields and MediaCityUK but considered them “a bit lacking of the history of the city”.

“Canada House was a building created as part of the Industrial Revolution and we liked that sense of trying to reimagine what the building was used for,” he added.

TBWA/Manchester is currently working with the likes of Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments and has recently been appointed the solus creative agency for Bosch in the UK and Ireland and the lead strategic creative agency for JD Williams.

McCallum said the agency was currently embarking on a “significant” recruitment drive for its new office.

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