Headed by Andrew Binns, Mark Harrington and Nicola Docking, Poke Marketing in Liverpool employs eight staff and is on the lookout for more. Tony McDonough reports

A new creative advertising agency has launched in Liverpool.

Poke Marketing is made up of a group of people, and friends, who have worked together at other agencies over the last 15 years. It currently has eight members of staff and is embarking on a recruitment drive.

Andrew Binns, Mark Harrington and Nicola Docking have all worked with each other at Rippleffect and Ashfield Healthcare before splitting off to work for Havas (Andrew) and Uniform (Mark).

They form the senior leadership team of Poke, along with Paul Culshaw, head of search who was recruited from CTI Digital. The venture is backed by investor Sean O’Neill from Adore Group.

It has already secured a number of clients including Liverpool’s Writing on the Wall, estate agent Sexi Property, celebrity and luxury wedding dress boutique Florianni, Brazilian band Bianana and Liiift, a business change management company.

Mark Harrington said: “The talent we have within Poke is something we really wanted to harness. With creativity at our heart we have already delivered some sensational copywriting, design, branding, digital and marketing work.

“Having worked most of the last five years in New York and across Europe it is fantastic to come back to Liverpool and deliver amazing work with talented people who I also consider my friends.”

And Andrew Binns added: “To be honest I grew tired of the traditional agency client relationship where the focus is on always looking to try to bill more hours. Instead I wanted to create a set up where agency and client are working together towards the same goal, more like an internal marketing team. So far so good.”