Forth Public Relations

Forth Public Relations was originally set up as the Forth Partnership in 1986 by William Saddler and Jeanette Saddler. The company changed its name to Forth Public Relations in 1988 and became a focal point for conservative activists such as Geoff Mawdsley and Brian Monteith in the 1990s. As of 2007 the company still exists but is dormant; it is owned by Robertson Marketing Services Group, which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of Misys plc.

1990

John Hay is the new chief executive of Forth Public Relations, part of Robertson Marketing Services Group, based in Edinburgh. Hay was formerly a director of Richmond Towers public relations in London.

Brann Robertson Direct, a subsidiary of the BIS Group. Robertson Marketing Services Group a (RMSG) forms the backbone of the direct arm and consists of Robertson Advertising, Forth Design, Forth Public Relations and Forth Advertising. The company was acquired by BIS in 1989 and RMSG has now joined forces with Brann Direct Marketing. Stewart Robertson, chairman and founder of the Robertson Group, echoes other direct marketers when he says that the lack of expertise has led to work drifting south.

Forth Public Relations in Edinburgh has gained three new clients Burger King, Clyde Canvas Goods and Structures and Visual Information Systems.

1991

The senior press and PR executive at the Glasgow office of the Scottish Development Agency has left to join Edinburgh-based Forth Public Relations. Ken Mann worked for the SDA for more than two years. 'I wanted to extend my PR horizons,' said Mann. 'And this offered an opportunity to do that.'

THE Forth Group, the new marketing agency established last week as a result of a management buyout at the Robertson Marketing Services Group, starts life threatened with the loss of its two biggest clients, with billings worth Pounds 2m. The Scottish Tourist Board has confirmed it will review its Pounds 1.5m account at the end of the summer campaign in August, while the Dunfermline Building Society has already removed its business, worth Pounds 500,000, from the agency.

Last Monday the holding company announced that it was ceasing to trade. Shocked staff at the Haymarket Terrace headquarters received letters informing them they were made redundant the previous Friday. Three of the group's five divisions Robertson Advertising, Forth Public Relations and Forth Design were bought out from the parent group. The buyout team was led by Richard Bolton, finance director, supported by Peter Lloyd, design director, and Andrew Walker, production director.

But Robertson's main clients are unhappy at the moves. A spokesman for the Scottish Tourist Board, recognised jewel in the Scottish advertising crown, said: 'We were surprised. You don't expect an agency to make such drastic changes.'

Opening for business this week will be Marketing Advantage, an advertising and direct marketing agency rising from the ashes of the now defunct Robertson Marketing Services Group. The new operation has been set up by Stewart Robertson, the former chairman of the group before he was bought out by the BIS Group from London a year ago. Under the terms of his settlement, he had been under a contract preventing him from conducting a similiar business for 12 months.

The Robertson Group, with billings of Pounds 7m and employing 32 staff in its five divisions, was closed at the beginning of March when the holding company decided to concentrate its acitivities in London. Three of the group's five divisions - Robertson Advertising, Forth Public Relations and Forth Design - were subject to a management buyout to create the Forth Group.

It has, however, since lost its two biggest clients, Scottish Tourist Board and Dunfermline Building Society, with billings worth Pounds 2m. I am delighted to be back in the industry, explained Robertson. 'I am starting again from scratch, building on the strenghts of the old group - advertising and direct marketing.' Adam Coleman, formerly a consultant with Robertsons, has joined the new agency as marketing director and David Meiklejohn, another former employee (no relation to Vince Meiklejohn, who left Robertsons to set up his own agency) is client-services director.

John Hay has returned to his former job as a director of food and drink marketing agency Richmond Towers after an unsettled time doing PR in Edinburgh. He will once again head the team working on the agency's giant Burger King account. A native Scotsman, Hay left Richmond Towers in 1989 after three years as a director to live and work in Edinburgh. 'I took the decision to leave for lifestyle reasons,' he said. 'It was great to walk to work in Princes Street in one minute, but the work was not fulfilling. There were not the same bluechip clients.' Hay worked for Forth Public Relations, part of the Robertson Marketing Services Group as chief executive.

1992

Forth Public Relations in Edinburgh has picked up two new accounts Solicitors Financial Services and the Vintner's Rooms.

1995

The Communication Group Scotland has acquired Edinburgh-based Forth Public Relations from design and direct marketing company Forth Marketing Services. Forth PR executive director Brian Monteith joins CGS as a director, bringing with him 11 clients, including United Wire, Edinburgh Crystal Glass Company, Lothian Regional Council, General Teaching Council and Royal Lyceum Theatre. CSG was founded in 1991 and is part of the Communication Group, a founder member of the Entente Partnership of independent European consultants.

Communication Group chairman Maureen Smith declined to reveal the amount paid to Forth Marketing Services for its PR arm, save to say its was 'an appropriate and fair amount'.

People

• Geoff Mawdsley, 1994-5
• Brian Monteith

directors circa 2007

• Company secretary Elizabeth Andrea Gray
• Director Philip Copeland
• Director Misys Corporate Director Limited

Registered Office

24 GREAT KING STREET, EDINBURGH, EH3 6QN

Parent companies

The immediate parent of Forth is Robertson Marketing Services Group Limited and the ultimate parent is Misys plc.