Contacts:
Roger Darnell
DWA for ATTIK
+1.828.264.8898

Hilary Robinson
ATTIK Leeds
+44 (0)113 202 1530

For Immediate Release

HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – (Nov. 18, 2004) – Global creative agency ATTIK (www.attik.com) today announced that founders Simon Needham and James Sommerville will attend an event on Nov. 22 at Buckingham Palace hosted by The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh to honor the contributions made by the British design industry to the life of the nation and to recognize excellence in the teaching and practice of design. 

Both gentlemen will be available for interviews on Nov. 23 to share highlights of the event and their firm’s latest achievements in the global marketplace.

Needham and Sommerville – each of whom earned an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Huddersfield in 2000 for their extraordinary business achievements – were recently honored by HRH The Prince of Wales as part of an event marking the launch of 21st anniversary celebrations for The Prince’s Trust's Business Program.  Started by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1976 to help young people to achieve business success through training, mentoring and financial assistance, the charity has so far helped nearly half a million young people.  After presenting their business plan for their design company, the Trust granted Needham and Sommerville a £1,000 loan, and ATTIK was born. 

Today, ATTIK is a global creative agency committed to designing extraordinary creative experiences that inspire consumers through compelling communications that cross all design disciplines.  With offices in Huddersfield, San Francisco and New York, ATTIK now has an estimated turnover of nearly $20 million per year.  And Volume Five of the firm’s critically acclaimed Noise series of books – part of the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco’s permanent collection – is now in the works.

Sommerville continues serving The Prince’s Youth Business Trust as an advisor to new business in the 21st century.  At ATTIK, his role as group Creative Director involves him in all of ATTIK’s European and U.S. east coast projects.  In 2003, in partnership with the University of Huddersfield, he helped to develop and launch the world’s first creative industry-based Master’s Program, Huddersfield University’s M.A. Creative Imaging.  Offered in partnership with ATTIK, the program accepted its first students in the fall of 2003.  In keeping with the government’s policy of uniting academia with industry, the program has been hailed as a breakthrough in the country’s design industry, which Rt. Hon Stephen Byers MP, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has said is growing nearly twice as fast as the economy as a whole.

Now based mainly in San Francisco, California, Simon Needham continues serving as the firm’s global creative director, and as creative director for the firm’s Toyota Scion account, among many others.  The ongoing Scion campaign, which continues to drive the first-ever successful launch of a new car brand targeted specifically to young adults, has gained global attention since breaking nationally in the U.S. in 2004.  Needham has directed or co-directed each of the campaign's broadcast spots to date.  With the campaign's print elements recently earning the 2004 Premier Print Awards’ Best of Automotive Category honors, Needham’s creative expression on projects across all design disciplines continues to draw the attention of creative industry professionals worldwide.

Together with their U.S. president William Travis of Lancashire, England, Needham and Sommerville have built their company from a design studio in the north of England into one of the world's most innovative companies.  Their combined strategic direction has seen ATTIK grow to encompass various disciplines within the communications industry, from strategic planning and film direction to interactive, broadcast and print design.

The event on Nov. 22 will mark their first meeting with The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

About ATTIK
ATTIK (www.attik.com) is a global creative agency committed to designing extraordinary creative experiences that inspire consumers through compelling communications.  ATTIK's strategic planning, design, advertising, production, client service and young-adult research expertise have driven success across an array of consumer product and service categories.  ATTIK articulates corporate brand strategy, designs creative solutions for advertising, below-the-line and online media, ensuring target audiences are vitally connected to every facet of its clients' brands.  For inquiries, please call Ric Peralta (Ric@attik.com) at +1-415-284-2600.