James Cross, Tim Jones and Alastair Marchant Announce Meanwhile Launch

Former BBC creative directors Tim Jones and James Cross, together with the former managing director of Chapter, Alastair Marchant, have announced that their widely anticipated start-up creative agency, Meanwhile, is now open for business.

Meanwhile is 'a company for people who’d rather set agendas than follow them', and has offices in MediaCity. The business also reunites the trio, who first met as juniors over 15 years ago, and will announce its founding clients, including a Christmas campaign for a high street retailer, in the coming weeks.

Alastair, who will be CEO, said the name of the company very much reflects who they are and their approach: "We wanted a name that had genuine meaning about what we are offering in both our unique approach to creative work, and how we’ve designed the company to remove every conceivable barrier between clients, us and what matters most creativity that adds value to businesses. 

“To do this, we’ll use proprietary technology, collaborative ways of working, and a different commercial model to ensure our client’s goals are totally aligned with ours. Meanwhile is a better way to better work, it’s that simple.”

James and Tim, who won a BAFTA for their Tokyo Olympics campaign and led the recent rebrand of BBC One, will be joint chief creative officers.

Tim explained the duo’s approach, which he believes will continue to bring success, “We’ve always approached client  challenges looking for the exceptions to the rules - the ‘what  ifs’ and ‘yeah, buts’. And we will continue that ethos because we firmly believe it’s how we can make a difference culturally and commercially.”

Of Meanwhile’s ambitions, James added, “We’re not just a ‘Manchester agency’, we’re an independent creative company that wants to help brands at the highest level in the UK and internationally, that just happens to be proudly based in the North West. It’s an important difference, it gives us a different perspective, and clients a genuine alternative to Shoreditch and Soho. We want to work with brands that want to ‘shift the needle’, and I believe we’re primed for just that.”

And finally, why Bez? James explains: “Hiring Manchester’s ultimate hype-man felt a very Meanwhile thing to do, we just wanted to create the most memorable founders photo ever.”