HDM, WDPA and MCS join forces to form Souk Communications

Advertising agency HDM has merged with direct marketing shop WDPA and digital specialist Mitchell Conner Searson (MCS) to form an integrated agency called Souk Communications.

The agency has three operating divisions – Souk Advertising, Souk Response and Souk Digital. It has 60 staff and billings worth about &£40m. Its clients include Sony, Tesco and Vodafone.

The three agencies pitched together to win the &£3m Cosmos Holidays business earlier this year (MW August 25), but have only formally merged to form Souk this week.

The agency will be run by HDM founders Bill Hart and Andrew Durrant. Hart, as group chief executive, will oversee the three divisions, with Patrick Mills of HDM running Souk Advertising, Huw Williams of WDPA taking the title of managing partner of Souk Response and Chris Searson of MCS in charge of Souk Digital. Group commercial director Paul Vennard makes up the management team.

Souk is the Arabic name for a market and is meant to represent the breadth of service the agency offers.

Durrant says: “Souk reflects the nature of our business. Clients can come and visit, look around and choose the things they want.”

Durrant and Hart founded HDM in 1991 with Sarah Morgan, who has since left the agency.