Senior role for Jenkins at Button

Founder and head of the former Jenkins Group, Nicholas Jenkins, has joined Button Design Company as a senior consultant. Jenkins will work with the Button Brand Development division, which is planning a major expansion.

Consultancy managing director Sue Bingham says that the group is discussing a possible merger with another design group as part of its plans. She says it may also strike a formal relationship with a “well-known” product designer.

“Nicholas’s experience will be terrifically valuable as we further develop Button’s corporate identity offering,” says consultancy managing director Sue Bingham. Jenkins will trade under the title Nicholas Jenkins at Button Brand Development to capitalise on his high profile in the industry, says Bingham. She confirms Jenkins will take a stake in the venture.

“Corporate identity has always been my first obsession; now, with the support of first class implementation and creative back up, I feel confident that we will consolidate Button’s position at the forefront of this discipline,” says Jenkins. “The company is planning to expand the whole corporate identity side of the business over the next couple of years. It really wants to be up there with Wolff Olins,” he says.

Talks about the appointment have been ongoing for some months. Jenkins and Button first became acquainted when he employed the group as a contractor to The Jenkins Group. Button currently has 100 staff, working in offices in London, New York and Cannes. A Los Angeles office is scheduled to open in the New Year.

Button has recently been appointed to create the corporate identity for Action Stations, a £16m event complex in Portsmouth Harbour. Previous corporate identity clients include Easyphone, Random House, The Coronary Risk Institute and the International Advertising Festival.