Member Article

Creative Hire For Refinery Boosts Retail Business

Manchester’s Refinery has enhanced its retail portfolio with the appointment of art director, Darren Price. Bringing over 25 years’ experience working creatively with the likes of Bensons for Beds, Iceland and DFS, his credentials strongly complement the marketing agency’s track record in the sector and will support the team in tackling what is a transitional time for its retail clients.

“There has never been a more challenging period in retail,” says Refinery’s creative director, David Pye. “Brands are having to come round to a new way of thinking by being truly customer focused and moving away from a solutions sell.

“The ‘user experience’ is everything in a physical and virtual retail environment and for value-driven brands it’s about creating a stand-out experience cost-effectively. We need our ideas and investments to work hard and with people like Darren, who have a very deep understanding of the sector, we pride ourselves on developing strategically strong, creative outputs that can cut through the noise to support retailers in reaching ambitious sales targets on realistic budgets.”

Joining the 100-strong team at Refinery from Doncaster-based Public, Darren’s hire comes on the back of a string of senior appointments across the agency, including the creation of a strategy and planning department, headed up by Gemma Sheridan (formerly of McCann and TBWA).

Other newcomers in account handling, design and art direction are supporting the agency in meeting the demands of the growing business while maintaining its enviable reputation for client services – as evidenced by Refinery’s number one rating by RAR (Recommended Agency Register) in 2015.

“We’re pleased to have enjoyed another year of growth in our retail client base, but while we’re getting bigger we’re also very committed to staying true to our roots as an agency that stands by exceptional client service,” says David. “The same goes for the territories we work in. While we’re experienced across a number of sectors, retail has always been a core competency and we’ll continue to capitalise on our unrivalled knowledge here – not least by building on it by bringing people in that enrich our offer even further.”

The Co-operative, Homebase, Manchester Arndale Centre and J D Williams are just some of Refinery’s retail clients. For further information visit www.refinerygroup.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucy Brice .