Ian McAteer

Chairman | Digital Director | Union Group

I qualified and practised as a Barrister before joining Saatchi & Saatchi in 1984 to work on the BA account. During this time I also worked on Campbell’s Soup, Cadbury-Schweppes, Avis Rent-a-Car, BP and British Telecom. I was appointed to the Saatchi board in 1990, before returning to Scotland in 1992 to join Faulds Advertising. 

I jointly founded The Union in 1996 and have helped run the business ever since. I am a Fellow of the IPA and the Marketing Society, have served as Chairman of both the IPA in Scotland and Worldwide Partners, as well as the youth charity ProjectScotland. 

With over 30 years’ experience in advertising and marketing, I am still intimately involved in helping clients, with a particular focus on digital marketing. In 2015 I took responsibility for running Union Digital and enjoy the fresh challenges and opportunities that digital marketing offers. I still try to use my legal training to apply discipline and logic in helping clients develop their marketing and sales strategy.