McConnells to relocate to Barrow Street

McConnells Advertising, the largest independent agency of its kind in Ireland, has decided to leave its offices after 35 years and move to a new building in Dublin's Barrow Street.

The agency is not renewing its lease at Charlemont Place, Dublin 2 and instead is moving to Grand Mill Quay, Barrow Street, Dublin 4.

McConnells will occupy the ground and first floors of a building which is located just across the road from the Google European headquarters in Barrow Street.

According to Jarlath Jennings, managing director of McConnells, location was as important to the agency in the move as retaining the same level of office space.

"The square footage was obviously key, but it was the location - for clients and staff - and the fact that this area of the city is probably the most exciting area to be relocating to," he said.

McConnells took the decision to move for a variety of reasons, but if it had stayed at its current premises it would have faced a rent review, it is understood.

The Charlemont building is owned by developer Bernard McNamara and with McConnells now departing, it may be redeveloped. "It will be great to be housed at the new centre of gravity for office life in Dublin," said Mr Jennings.

"This move makes an important statement for McConnells in how we are evolving to meet the communications challenges of the 21st century. This new layout will allow us to be much more integrated and to give our clients the service they require and demand."

McConnells, in line with others in its industry, has changed the way it does its business. When contracts come in now, all parts of its operation work together.

"In a changing world of communications, integration is becoming increasingly more important especially as we are constantly challenged to be able to react across a wide variety of channels," said Mr Jennings.

The agency has lost some key accounts this year, such as Kellogg's, the National Lottery and Masterfoods.

However, it has begun to win back some business and retained the AIB media buying/planning account, beating off challenges from a number of Dublin agencies.

Others clients include Bupa Ireland, Microsoft Xbox, The Irish Times, Lyons Tea and the Office of Tobacco Control.

The company is large by Irish standards, employing more than 100 people, and it has an annual turnover of €65 million.

This relates to a company called Kumalo, which is the holding group for all of the McConnells companies.

In 2005, this company posted an operating profit of €5.3 million, down from €6.5 million in 2004.

McConnells is now expanding the scale of its offering and it recently acquired new tools to aid its media buying and planning operation.

Online work is also going to be key for future growth, said Mr Jennings.