Elmwood expands into New York

Elmwood has opened a fifth office – and its second outside the UK – in New York, as part of global expansion plans that could see the British consultancy extend its reach into the Middle East, Asia and India over the next three years.

Locations in Dubai, Delhi, Switzerland and Hong Kong have been earmarked – ‘the economy and good fortune permitting’, says Elmwood chairman Jonathan Sands (pictured).

The consultancy is currently recruiting for the New York office on Fifth Avenue, and plans to have 15 full-time staff there by the beginning of January, comprising a mix of locally recruited talent and relocated UK employees.

‘We are running a tag-team approach to our US business. We have a team of designers rotating three weeks on, three weeks off in the US, so the experience of working there on international business is percolating throughout Elmwood, adding to the enthusiasm and knowledge bank of the whole business,’ says Sands. The Elmwood chairman is currently spending one week a month in the US and sees this as an ongoing commitment to Elmwood’s US client business in 2009. Sands has been building a portfolio of clients in the US for the past two years, with current annualised revenues of around £1m.

Elmwood has a staff base of 100, located at offices across London, Leeds, Edinburgh, Melbourne and New York.