Gravity

Richard Cottrell, Project Manager.

After graduating, Richard’s first role was within the marketing department of Proton Cars (UK). With all of eight months experience under his belt – during which time he managed brochure and event projects, PR, television and print advertising campaigns, and dealer support – the rest of the marketing team moved onto pastures new. Richard became the only UK-based employee with any marketing knowledge or experience. Although the experience would stand him in good stead for the future, the lack of budget and leadership meant he relied heavily on agency support. So he jumped to the other side.

The Initiative Group was Richard’s first agency. Developing and managing internal communications, direct mail campaigns and incentive programmes for Royal Mail and Sony Broadcast & Professional, the role offered an insight into working for larger corporations. Based in the beautiful Mendip hills not far from where he grew up, The Initiative Group gave Richard a good grounding in agency life. But after a couple of years, and approaching his mid-twenties, Richard craved something different. He moved to Flagship Consulting (later Noah Design) in central London.

Flagship was a full service design and PR agency, providing brand development and marketing collateral to clients in the IT, telecoms, tourism, legal, professional and financial sectors. As an Account Manager, Richard managed corporate identity projects and the production of materials such as brochures, product sales tools, advertising, DM and eDM campaigns, plus website design and build for a range of SME clients including Penna Consulting, CBI and Pemberton Greenish solicitors.

Returning to Bristol, Richard joined Proctor and Stevenson, where he spent four years as an Account Manager. He spent two of these years dedicated to the Ordnance Survey account, providing marketing collateral for consumer and business-to-business product ranges, plus sub-brand identities, direct mail campaigns, electronic communications and video sequences. During this time, he also worked on Dell, Hewlett Packard and Business West. It was here that he also had the pleasure of meeting Sam and Mike.

Shortly after turning 30, Richard left the agency world for a change of scene. After a couple of months volunteering for an environmental charity, he took a position fundraising for Send a Cow, including managing its Christmas campaign which accounts for around 40% of the charity’s income. After two years, and having directly helped raise over £2 million, Richard was tempted back to agency life. Learning that Gravity was looking to expand the team, he joined as Project Manager in May 2008.

Back