New York beckons for Wolff Olins

Wolff Olins is aiming to “plant the Wolff Olins DNA in New York”, by setting up a US office, according to a consultancy spokeswoman.

The Broadway base, to be up and running by the last week of November, is being led by head of client services Kate Manasian. Rather than a satellite to London, it will be “as if we are all one office”, says the spokeswoman, with a dedicated six-strong commuter pool of staff who will work in both cities.

Although the details are not finalised, four Wolff Olins staff are expected to move to New York, and four US staff will be recruited. Manasian will commute between the two offices. The consultancy has won two unnamed US clients in the last month, and is pitching for another three.

The office will also service existing European clients in the US. Wolff Olins had a San Francisco office in the late 1980s which closed.

Helen Keyes, who has been working as a freelance consultant at Diefenbach Elkins Davies Baron, joins 100-strong New York identity group Anspach Grossman Enterprise as one of its three creative directors. She takes up the post at the WPP consultancy on Monday.