Creative agency Chemistry is set to close by mid-January after a year of difficult trading. Managing director Ray Sheerin said that it was an “incredibly hard decision”, one that was not taken lightly. However, after a long and considered review, management felt that due to the sustained pressure on margins and lower spend they were left with no choice.
Sheerin said there will be an orderly wind down of the business, with all creditors being paid.
A two-week consultation on Chemistry’s future started last Friday, which means that unless “a white knight” shows up this side of Christmas, the agency will have to close soon. “We’ve always strived for high creative standards,” Sheerin told Marketing.ie, “but it’s expensive to do. We tried to make changes to keep the business going, but it proved impossible.”
Sheerin believes that the current prospects for local creative agencies were not looking good.
Since its launch by Sheerin and Mike Garner in 1999, Chemistry has built up an enviable reputation for quality creative work where mediocrity was scorned. Examples include groundbreaking campaigns for the Irish Cancer Society, Irish Examiner ‘Jonah Lomu’ and Lidl – including its ‘Homecoming’ Christmas ad, TrolleyCam (above) and GAA Ladies Football.
The Lesson Park agency has been a big winner of industry awards at Cannes, Adfx, ICAD, Kinsale and agency of the year shows. Its current client list includes Dunnes Stores, Danone, Applegreen, Bord na Mona, Center Parcs, Audi and Tesco Mobile.
