In a small world that can still handle global brands

Paul Stead’s article (Design Business, DW 11 April) Good things don’t just come in small boxes, was excellent and as head of a smallto medium-sized consultancy, I’d have to agree with much of what he said.

However, there are a couple of points, the first being that smaller consultancies like ours do have global experience across a wider market than Stead allows.

The key to how this is achieved by ten or 15 people is experience borne out of longevity. We have been in this business many years and by hard work have accumulated a varied and interesting portfolio of clients, national and international.

I’d definitely go as far as to say that we can compete with the ‘big boys’, particularly as we have taken so much time and effort to build up a network of partners that we can draw upon for large pitches and contracts.

Stead is quite right in that creative inspiration can come from anyone, not just the designers, but this is also true in smaller businesses too.

In fact, with a small staff, team meetings include everyone and give them a chance to impact on the business from a creative point of view. With no complex organisational structure, our finance and administration staff are just as likely to take part in a brainstorm ing session as our designers and project managers are.

As for the distracting problem of administration on the creative process, I believe it all depends on how well you run your business. We seem to have the right balance of staff to manage all functions and maintain what Stead quite rightly calls ‘cutting-edge creativity’.

We are at the hub of our own very big wheel that revolves on creativity, business experience and the best people for the job.

All we’re saying is don’t write off the smaller consultancies on their inability to manage global brands across diverse markets because we do it every day.

Anita Brightly-Hodges

Managing and creative director

Still Waters Run Deep

London E1