It’s been a difficult year for redundancies (just ask the 6,000 Dentsu staff losing their jobs) and sadly there are bound to be more layoffs before the end of the year. Mother London, however, has made no redundancies in 2020 and has now voluntarily returned all furlough payments to HMRC.
There were 32 Mother staff on furlough at one point, but all were brought back. In April, the agency asked those earning over £30k to defer part of their salary, with the money due to be repaid in December 2021. That money will now be paid this month, a year ahead of plan.
So it was looking difficult in the spring, the agency has made a profit this year and proved that it’s possible for ad agencies to be in decent financial health. It’s had a string of wins — from Pepsico’s Doritos to Gousto home recipe firm — and continued to make some proper ad campaigns for KFC, Ikea, Samsung etc. The agency has also opened two new arms — Other and Mother Pictures.
Michael Wall, global CEO of Mother, said: “We were grateful to the UK Government for releasing these funds at the start of the pandemic. As our year went on, and thanks to the hard work and commitment of our team, we found ourselves in the fortunate position of not needing the financial support. So we’re returning the money.”
