Award-winning agency chief calls it a day
The award-winning founder of one of the South West’s best-known and longest-established public relations agencies has announced his decision to step down after 50 years in the industry.
John Knowles of JKC Creative Marketing (centre) receives his Services to the Industry award at the Archies from Richard Shore of Mentor Training (right) and host Dominic Holland (left)
JOHN KNOWLES of JKC Creative Marketing in Falmouth has decided it’s time to hand over the reins to his trusted management team, and in doing so, draws to a close a career in publicity dating back to 1972.
Since cutting his copywriting teeth on accounts as diverse as Westland Helicopters, Boeing, and Magnet Joinery, John has led agencies throughout the UK, working with international brands as well as up-and-coming local companies.
However, it was in the materials handling sector where John made his greatest mark, winning a coveted award for Services to the Industry. A leading magazine editor in the sector described John as “a legend and a font of knowledge who not only understands what makes journalists tick but is also thoroughly knowledgeable about his clients’ business… a quality that runs through his agency.”
The agency, based at Tregoniggie Industrial Estate, plans to build on Knowles’ legacy, as finance director Sarah Cave explains: “John is one of a kind, but his philosophy of encouraging leaders rather than followers is guiding us well. Indeed, we have recently moved to new premises to support future expansion.”
Looking back over half-a century in advertising and public relations, John recalls: “It was in the latter days of telex and just as fax was breaking through as the communication technology of choice. My agency at that time was entrusted with launching the UK’s first desktop facsimile machine. It proved an instant success, much to the amazement of the marketing director of the company involved — he was utterly convinced fax would never take off!”
Embracing rapidly changing technology allowed John to build a thriving agency in the heart of Cornwall, far from the traditional centres of commerce. “From the outset, we were working for national and international companies such as Mitsubishi and Caterpillar which involved quite a bit of travel, but it was worth it to come home to such an idyllic environment,” he maintains.
While he was setting up the new marketing agency in Falmouth 40 years ago, John and his wife Marie also acquired the wholefood shop on Falmouth’s High Street, running ‘Harvest’ for a number of years until new owners moved it to bigger premises on Market Strand as The Natural Store.
One of the directors who will be responsible for taking JKC Creative into its next phase is account director Cat Allen. “John will be greatly missed,” she says. “He combined a flair for outstanding writing with a game-changing vision. His insights enabled clients to enhance and, on occasion, totally transform their businesses. More than that, though, he is universally loved, and his wit, wisdom, and integrity have been thoroughly absorbed by everyone at JKC.”
Summing up his feelings, John says “It’s a bittersweet decision,” he says. “I’ll miss my clients, and I’ll miss my colleagues, but in truth, I’m certain I won’t be much missed.
“I’m leaving a great team, each one a leader in his or her specialism. I may have laid the foundations, but my colleagues are taking the agency to far greater heights.”
For more information, visit https://jkc.co.uk/
