At Friday night’s annual Scottish Advertising Awards, the ‘Oscars’ for Scottish advertising, The Union were crowned ‘Agency of the Year’ for the second time in three years. The agency also picked up 10 awards and 5 commendations in an evening with strong competition from several agencies. The Union’s awards were won for work on a selection of clients including Scottish Government, Historic Scotland, Road Safety Scotland, ASH Yorkshire and Project Scotland.

The success follows a period where The Union has consistently emerged as Scotland’s top award winning agency. Since 2000 the agency has topped the Scottish Ad Awards seven times – an unmatched run of success. Andrew Lindsay, The Union’s Executive Creative Director, said, “This took us a little by surprise. This year has been the most competitive in many years, and given that three agencies were running neck and neck for top billing, we’re really pleased to do so well. I also feel that all the clients who support Scottish advertising, and allow good advertising to flourish, deserve a mention. The standard this year was really high, especially for public sector clients like Scottish Government and Historic Scotland.”

Ian McAteer, Group Chairman of The Union, added, “It struck me on the night that there is perhaps stronger competition in our industry than there has been in along while, which is a good sign. We all face tough trading conditions, however if we can offer clients real quality in insight and creativity, we should all be confident looking to the future.” Richard Draycott, Editor of The Drum (organisers of the awards), commented on The Union winning Advertising Agency of the Year: “The Union won because they have amassed the most awards at the Scottish Advertising Awards, which is testament to their ability to devise creative ad campaigns. The industry also lent its voice through our peer poll in which we asked all ad agencies which agency they had admired the most over the year. The Union has also continued to add significant clients to its client list over the last year, which in the current economic climate is vitally important.”

Photo: A happy Union team at the awards event.