If you sell your group are you selling out?

I would like to respond to the VoxPop question (DW 19 January), asking if mergers and acquisitions are the only way for smaller design groups to compete.

The design industry has been slow to embrace a changing business environment. Design Week’s annual Top 100 survey last year showed the split between a few large consultancies and the rest of the market. Some of the larger design groups have been bought up by advertising agencies. I am not inspired by the strategy: let’s grow our business and then sell out to an advertising agency.

We are convinced that mergers and acquisitions will play a role in achieving our ambition to join the top consultancies in Britain. That is why we have started a programme to try and create an effective management and corporate structure that will focus on integrating and growing the businesses we acquire.

Zak Hydari

Chief executive

Zapp

zak.hydari@zapp.co.uk