Over the past year, due to the agency’s rapid growth, Richard Barnes, Buffalo 7’s Creative Director had to step away from the creative process and take on the position of Managing Director.
It came more than natural for Michelle Sussams, former Head of Creative to be promoted on Monday 15th January to Creative Director.
Michelle joined Buffalo 7 at the beginning of 2016 as a Senior Designer after acquiring twelve years of experience in art directing, graphic design, conceptual, digital, and print work. By the end of 2016, she was made Head of Creative and just over a year later has now assumed the position of Creative Director.
Michelle said: “Becoming Creative Director is an ambition realised. I’ve always been quietly ambitious but I’ve just focused on getting my head down and doing good work. Thankfully the opportunities have followed. As Creative Director, I’ll work on the front line of all our design work, supporting and guiding the studio throughout the entire creative process. It’s up to me to lead the creatives, making sure we’re inspired and striving to the push boundaries of PowerPoint.”
According to The Movement, just 11% of Creative Directors are women and as such, Buffalo 7 are proud to be contributing to shifting this figure in the right direction.
With Michelle taking this new role, it left Buffalo 7 needing another Senior Designer.
After graduating from Shillington design school, Hannah Tyson joined the presentation design specialists in 2014 as their third employee. As well as working tirelessly on behalf of Buffalo 7 clients, Hannah also takes care of all the internal branding. Hannah has now assumed the position of Senior Designer.
A third promotion of the day came from Buffalo 7 Project Management team. More client work lead into doubling the number of Project Managers. It’s become necessary to appoint a head of this department.
It’s pivotal for the agency’s future success that the head of department can manage the team now and as they continue to grow in numbers. After two years with Buffalo 7, Felicity Chivers, became Senior Project Manager.
“My favourite part of my job is the rapport I have and the relationships I have built with our clients. A huge proportion of the work we do is repeat business, and developing these client relationships further is something the project management team will focus on even more now and in the future. I strive to ensure all our projects are delivered on time and budget, and that every client feels a great deal of trust between themselves and their dedicated project manager. I’m looking forward to improving that process in the coming months. ” said Felicity.
Speaking about the three promotions, CEO Lyndon Nicholson commented: “It’s fantastic to be able to fill roles that are so pivotal to our future success from within the existing ranks. All three of the newly promoted individuals have shown exceptional ability, dedication and commitment to what we’re trying to build at Buffalo 7. Furthermore, the fact that the creative, development and project management teams are now all female-led demonstrates that we’re a business free of bias on any grounds other than raw talent.”
