McCullagh and Delaney hatch Plan

Mark Delaney, former manager of Samsung Design Europe, has joined forces with Kevin McCullagh, previously director of Seymour Powell Forecasting, to form a consultancy named Plan.

Though product design-based, Plan seeks to sit between a design and a management consultancy, Delaney explains.

‘We combine skills in research, strategic thinking and design,’ he adds. ‘We see [our input] as part of a client’s business strategy, when they’re trying to get to grips with what they should be doing.’

Plan will target ‘big blue chips’ particularly in telecoms and transport, where both partners have considerable expertise, says Delaney. The group already has at least one high profile client in the telecoms sector. But he and McCullagh also aim to talk to smaller clients.

The challenge behind the venture is to set up ‘a design agency that’s different and China-proof’, says Delaney, adding that some businesses are finding they are losing out to Far Eastern operators who can do the work for less.

For now, Delaney and McCullagh are working on their own. But they aim to grow organically over the next year or so, and will be looking to employ five, what they term, ‘product experts’ over the next 12 months.