Group makes new contacts in Amsterdam

Three-year-old London corporate graphics group Contacts Design Consultants has opened an offshoot in Amsterdam.

Called Contacts Communications, the new company is headed by Contacts’ European marketing director Conny van der Aat Dorrestijn, a former marketing manager for software firm ACT Financial Systems.

She was also at information systems company Nixdorf and her strong links with the financial and IT worlds dovetail with the core of Contacts’ client base in the finance and IT sectors.

Chris Bicknell, managing director of Contacts, says: “We plan to use the Amsterdam office as a launch platform to gain a foothold in the emerging Eastern European markets, where our key clients are already operating”.

Bicknell, who formed the now ten-strong group after leaving advertising, says all creative work will initially be done in London. Van der Aat-Dorrestijn will be supported by one administrator.

Setting up a new company was deemed more attractive than forging a local alliance, says Bicknell: “It may be more expensive but it gives us more control.”