Member Article

Record year of growth for communications agency CDS in 25th year of trading

The communications agency trusted by British institutions such as the NHS, Transport for London, and the Cabinet Office is marking 25 years in business with record profit growth of 24% and 36 new business appointments.

Forming part of the Baird Group, £35m+ annual turnover CDS employs over 170 people across eight UK offices and has delivered ground-breaking solutions for National Policing, Social Work England and the British Army.

In celebration of its milestone anniversary – and as part of the firm’s ongoing evolution – the company has welcomed 36 new staff and undertaken a full rebrand, in light of the shift towards the demand for insight, content, digital transformation, print and process automation solutions.

Within a crowded communications market, CDS’ key differentiator is that it will only take on a brief if there is a genuine opportunity to make a positive difference to society. As such, the team has garnered a reputation amongst some of the UK’s biggest institutions for its commitment to improving the health, wealth and safety of the UK.

To leverage the organisation’s accessibility and inclusivity consulting, as well as the use of business intelligence, analytics and data visualisation, a 15-strong in-house team has led the brand overhaul – the latest iteration in a company identity which continually adapts to the technological landscape.

Managing director Mark Gair said: “CDS is an exciting place to be at present and it goes without saying that it’s been an encouraging start to our milestone 25th year. With a clear and defined strategic vision, additional colleagues joining us and a new brand identity, we have high hopes for the next 12 months and beyond – and have many more plans and announcements to make in the coming months.

“Our purpose is clear – we exist to ‘make a positive difference’. It is that passion and attitude which helps us to attract some of the UK’s brightest talent, each of whom wants to safeguard our country’s future.

“From incredible thinkers to strategic experts, every one of my colleagues has a strong social conscience and will ensure a client has really thought about why they’re doing something, in order to achieve the outcome intended from the end user’s perspective.” “Over the past 25 years, CDS has seen all-manner of changes,” Mark continued, “including a shift from printed communications to digital, the internet revolution and more recently, a focus on AI and machine learning.

“Our ethics and agility have seen CDS continually adapt in accordance with the changing landscapes – all while remaining completely technology agnostic. Our aim now is to enable businesses to simplify complexity, to make things simple not only for our clients, but their clients, consumers and users too.”

One stand-out delivery by CDS is ResilienceDirect™ – a secure platform to enable emergency services, armed forces, government and private businesses to communicate and plan effectively before, during, and after a major incident.

“Seeing CDS’ solutions used to help people during the likes of the Grenfell Tower, the Manchester bombing and the London Bridge attack is incredibly humbling,” concluded Mark Gair, “and we want to ensure that everything we do helps someone in some way.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Katie Mallinson .