LONDON — Grayling has launched a creative services division, Ignite, to foster creative talent in nine cities around the UK and ensure its creative output is not just from “the London bubble.”

The new division is led by Grayling’s head of creative and planning, Nathan Kemp (pictured, centre), supported by a new creative director Julian Cirrone (right), who joins the agency after a stint at M&C Saatchi Public Relations, and strategy director Alex Martin (left), who was previously in Grayling’s consumer division.

The team will be responsible for strategic planning, creative development and content creation, with an in-house studio providing a full suite of design and production services. Other services include strategy and creative workshops, focus groups, trends analysis and stakeholder mapping.

The move is the culmination of a 12-month investment programme, during which Grayling has set up a 10-strong team of planners, creatives and designers in London, supported by “creatives” in each of its offices around the country.

Kemp said: “Cultures differ by city; behaviours by borough; and people by postcode. Our creative thinking needs to reflect that. Our clients want true local knowledge, and not just perspectives from a London bubble.”

Grayling has also signed a partnership with London advertising college The School of Communication Arts that will enable Ignite to collaborate with up up-and-coming creatives, and set up a panel of people from different backgrounds across the UK to test ideas.

UK & Europe CEO Sarah Scholefield said: “We truly believe in building and fostering a creative culture across all of the Grayling UK offices. We are committed to investing in this across the UK because it genuinely creates greater advantage for our clients. The launch of the Ignite team and the creative infrastructure we’ve established continues to drive that. We’re already seeing positive results, with a number of competitive new business and organic wins under our belts.”

The Ignite team will work across Grayling’s existing clients serviced from its London HQ – including PokerStars, Molson Coors, Visa and Amadeus – as well M&S, HSBC and The Ivy Collection restaurants, which are serviced by the agency’s eight offices outside of London. The team will also be heavily involved on new business, with recent wins including EasyJet Holidays.