RPA given Euro remit after buyout

Retail Planning Associates is to expand its presence in the UK and Europe following its takeover by Fitch Worldwide last week.

Mark Artus, a senior creative at RPA, will relocate to Fitch London offices later this year to spearhead the development of the merging group’s activities in Europe.

RPA, the US retail strategy and design group based in Ohio, boasts a client list that includes Disney and Toys ‘R’ Us.

Fitch and RPA have been the ‘two pillars of the regional design establishment [in Ohio] for many years’, according to Fitch Worldwide chairman and chief executive Rodney Fitch. ‘The two companies are a very natural fit,’ he adds, ‘combining a strategic-led company with a creative-led company.’

In the US, RPA will be re-branded as Fitch RPA and Todd Cameron, former chief executive of RPA, will take on the role of president and chief executive of the consultancy.

Meanwhile, Fitch is also launching a collaboration with a group of former product designers from Ford’s defunct Ingeni design team, which distinguished itself with its work for external clients.

Called Forpeople, the standalone team will comprise former Ingeni principal design manager Richard Stevens, plus former Ingeni designers David Summerfield and Michael Tropper.

According to Stevens, Forpeople will be based in Fitch’s Westbourne Terrace offices in west London and will operate as part of the Fitch business.