A YOUNG Luton company run by old school and university friends Gavin O’Brian, pictured left, and Alex Lawrence has wowed Business Monthly’s dragons.
Creative agency Clearhead Media, based in the Hat Factory, Bute Street, was one of the winners of our Local Business Accelerators competition.
The team has won an attractive advertising package and help from mentors Annette White and Richard Cooper. They visited the company last week to help devise the advertising campaign.
“Clearhead is a name we are all going to be hearing and seeing a lot of in the very near future,” said Richard, director of ASA Business Development & Quality Management Systems, in Dunstable.
“I would not be surprised if these guys go on to win this competition at a national level, very impressive.”
He added: “This is a young and very creative team with some incredible creative skills.”
Annette, sales and marketing director at PC Help Centre, in High Street South, Dunstable, said: “I’m thoroughly excited to be working with the Clearhead team and will help with specific key objectives and plans going forward.
“A long-term goal for the team is to be one of the Top 50 creative agencies in the TURN....
UK.
“From what I have seen so far, I would say that they have a true entrepreneurial spirit and drive that will take them all the way!
“In their words this is the year when the world gets to know us a little better and I look forward to helping them achieve this!”
The company’s client base already includes working with the BBC, collaborating on the Cher Lloyds With Ur Love Music video and assisting with commercials for Lucozade.
Even though creative director Alex and business director Gavin are running a company formed three years ago, they have given opportunities to students by running an internship program.
Their interns include both school leavers and university graduates and have been mentored to help further their technical, business, entrepreneurial and employability skills.
Gavin and Alex Lawrence were both educated in Luton, at Lealands High School and then going on to graduate from the University of Bedfordshire in 2008 with degrees in media and business.
They started Clearhead from scratch in 2009 using their own savings and initially specialized in film production.
The company has diversified into becoming a full service creative agency producing anything from promotional videos to mobile applications, allowing many of their clients to pave the way ahead in technological promotions.
Recently Clearhead created an iPhone app for Lea Manor High School, Luton, putting the school on the map as being one of the first schools in the country to have one.
John Salusbury, deputy head of Lea Manor High School said: “Clearhead challenge us to be brave and take risks with the techniques they suggest for illustrating over our vision and ethos.
“This has encouraged us to push the boundaries from the conventional into the future. For example, to advertise the opening of our new building we had a digital imaging projection onto the building, similar to that previously seen on Buckingham Palace.
“This ensured we captured a lot of attention and so had large numbers attending our open house week.”
The business partners agree that the ethos at Clearhead has always been to invest all profits back into the business and not to rely on grants or loans.
Clearhead’s studios have grown from a single office to now fully operating the whole of the fourth floor.