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GDA take the Vinegar!

A team from GDA went down to London recently having entered the 'glamorous' industry awards called the Chip Shop Awards, and we didn't come away empty handed...

Our entry into the 'Best Use of Shop Window Postcard Space' picked up a 'Vinegar' Award, which was no mean achievement considering the competition we were up against.

The piece of work was devised by one of our brightest creatives, Sam Palmer, and she went up to collect the award along with Managing Director Alistair Farrant. A big well done to Sam, although she should really be washing her mouth out judging by the language used in the entry...

This was the first time that we have ever entered awards like this, so it's fair to say a good deal of celebration was had late into the night!

Alistair steps up to MD

Just to keep you up-to-date on some recent changes to the management structure here at GDA...

As some of you may know, over the last couple of years since Jem and Alistair bought into the business, Graham has gone down to working three days a week and been steadily handing over the general running of the day-to-day business.

Over recent months we have decided that the time is right to take this process a stage further, and as a result Alistair is taking on the additional responsibility of Managing Director from Graham, and will be supported by Jem in this new management set-up.

Don't worry though, Graham isn't disappearing completely! He is keeping his shares in the business and will still remain a very active member of our Board. He will however mainly be focusing on the strategic business development of GDA as well as continuing to give us the benefit of his years of experience in running the agency. Knowing Graham as we do, there's probably a fair chance of him being involved whenever there are any social activities going on as well!

Alistair explains "Whilst this is obviously a big piece of news following Graham's 23 years at the top, in reality it is 'business as usual'. I still intend to remain very hands on in the running of our accounts, particularly as I want to use all of my knowledge and experience to our clients benefit in this increasingly digital age."

"This is clearly a new challenge for me personally, but we feel the time is right to hand on the baton of MD, and it is something I am very excited about as we gear up our plans for more growth over the coming years".

GDA to dine out at the Chip Shops

Some of the team at GDA will be heading down to London to attend the prestigious Chip Shop Awards night in June. It follows our nomination in the 'Best use of a shop window postcard space' category.

We have never got involved in entering any industry awards before, but then the Chip Shops are not really like any other awards. As their blurb explains "The Chip Shop Awards are about fostering and recognising creativity with no boundaries and no rules. They are international creative awards, open to anyone with great ideas. Your work does not have to have been broadcast, printed or mailed. The Client doesn't even have to be yours. You just need a great idea."

It seemed like too good a challenge not to take up. We entered five pieces of work and it has to be said that we were delighted with the nomination. Being up against agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, from countries including America, Australia, South Africa and bizarrely Cambodia, it's no mean achievement for an agency from Barnsley!

So watch this space for news on how the awards night goes. That's if we'll be able to remember it.

GDA's new website is launched

Finally we got round to it! We have been desperate to update our website for a long time, but client work always has to come first

The new site gives a far better user experience, and demonstrates much more about what GDA is all about in 2010. Feedback is always welcome, as are followers on Twitter and people signing up to our periodic newsletters, so we're hoping to be able to engage much more and give you the chance to see what we've been up to.

Public Sector Client Wins

GDA have recently been appointed to work on two new public sector accounts. Berneslai Homes and Enterprising Barnsley are both based locally and looked to GDA to give something new to their busy marketing operations.

Berneslai Homes had never worked with an external agency before and are already seeing massive benefits from the work GDA have done. Initial projects have included their quarterly tenants newsletter called Open House, recruitment advertising and various other literature and posters.

GDA's digital experience came to the fore to help Enterprising Barnsley promote a series of network events throughout the business community. The main driver has been coordinated email campaigns, whilst being backed up with direct mail and posters placed throughout their 'enterprise hubs'.

Alistair Farrant, Client Services Director, is delighted to have the new clients on board "Winning new clients in competitive pitches is always satisfying. In our 23 years we have almost exclusively worked in the private sector, so the team deserve a lot of credit in our appointment by these two big public sector accounts."