Today we received the news that we’ve been awarded the much sought after Roots & Wings branding and communications contract.

The tender was advertised nationally via the Arts Council website, social media and other online avenues in December 2014. Candidates were given a four-week timeline and submissions were received from across the UK, including a significant number of agencies from London, but the winning proposal was found right here in Hull, by us.

Michael Barnes-Wynters, Project Manager (P.A.C.E), Roots & Wings said:

“We not only felt that Sowdens totally understood the brief and our audiences but they also produced a proposal which captured our imaginations. I’ve worked with agencies in Manchester and across the UK and I’ve got to say this proposal completely nailed it. Well done to Sowdens and their team, we’re really looking forward to getting started. Excellent!”

Roots & Wings is a £3M, ten-year programme of cultural transformation by, for and with the people of Hull. Focusing on the least engaged, and with the highest cultural aspirations it forms part of the Creative People and Places programme, launched in late 2011 by Arts Council England with the express purpose of increasing the number of people experiencing and being inspired by the Arts.

Polly Sowden, Director of Sowden & Sowden, commented: “This is not just great news for us, it has significance for the whole creative sector in Hull. It builds confidence in the talent of the city on the lead up to 2017. Hull is unique place and not always understood by the outside world. We do things differently here. But we’re far from just local, some of our biggest clients are in the Far East, Europe and the United States, many of our clients refer to us a local London agency and this contract win follows suit”.

Photo credit: The talented Anna Bean