30 Years Later… We Showed Up in Style
09 Dec 2025
…30 years however, DOES come with perspective. In 1995, as a marketing director for a retail brand, Richard spotted a clear gap in the market for retail destinations to get the kind of clever, creative, commercially-minded marketing they actually deserved – so he built the agency he couldn’t find anywhere else.
Fast forward three decades, a rebrand, and a few thousand campaigns later, and BWP has grown into one of the UK’s go-to destination marketing agencies. Delivering marketing success for icons like Trafford Centre, Lakeside, Harlequin, Eldon Square and IKEA. The mission hasn’t changed – but the scale certainly has.
And what have we learnt along the way?
That agency life isn’t just about the work, it’s about the people doing it. We’ve learnt that sometimes the bravest decisions are the ones that protect your team’s happiness and sanity. That creativity doesn’t “belong” to one department, it comes from every single person who looks at a problem from their own point of view. That the best ideas can come from an intern, a strategist, a videographer, a project manager or someone who just happened to have an amazing idea while waiting for their toast to pop up.
We also know that creativity isn’t just decoration, it’s a lever for footfall, sales and commercial impact. We’ve learnt that retail never stands still, which is why we’ve had to stay adaptable – especially through the tougher years, without losing our culture or our humour.
We’ve learnt that kindness and high standards are not opposites – they work best side by side….
Which brings us to Marrakech last week. With so many new team members joining us this year, it was the perfect place for everyone to get to know each other a little bit better.
From team-building challenges that produced some creativity genius to unexpected presenting prowess that none of us saw coming, our resident DJs who deserved medals for fielding a hundred demands to “play something with words!” and still managing to keep a smile on their faces”. Finally, no one was expecting the amount of back up the belly dancers had – suspiciously well-rehearsed!
Morocco delivered! Warm, hilarious, celebratory and exactly what a 30th birthday deserved.
Thirty years is a milestone for sure. With new investment, an amazing team – which seems to grow weekly – with even bigger ambitions, it still feels like chapter one.
Here’s to the next thirty, and to everyone who’s been part of the ride so far.
