Belfast ad agency back in black as it enjoys pre-tax profits of £420,000

A BELFAST advertising agency has returned to the black with profits of more than £400,000.

AV Browne saw turnover rising to £10.2m for the year to August 31, 2016, according to its latest accounts.

That was up by almost 13% on the same period a year earlier, when the firm posted turnover of £9.13m.

The agency turned around losses of £127,000 in 2015 to post pre-tax profits of £420,000 for the year.

According to the latest acoffice counts for AV Browne Advertising Limited, staff numbers increased from 92 to 96, with the total wage bill increasing to £3.5m for the year.

A spokeswoman for the firm said: “Over the past 12 months we have secured and delivered upon contracts from several major UK and global brands, whilst continuing to grow our existing business through both our Dublin and Belfast bases.

“We believe that this steady improvement in growth across the group validates our strategy of ongoing investment in technology and talent.”

AV Browne also operates an in Dublin as part of the overall AVB Group.

The company describes itself as “a full service advertising agency of people working together, applying our collective creativity to solve problems, make things different, better, effective, impactful, and sometimes just plain beautiful”.

Some of its projects include working with the BBC, National Museums Northern Ireland, Deloitte and Invest NI.

It worked with the BBC’s Digital & Learning team to create a short series of videos about employability and motivation, featuring comedian Micky Bartlett (right).

Other projects included working with the Blue Dragon brand. AV Browne was responsible for helping to relaunch its website.

It was responsible for managing the ‘user experience’, site map design, digital design, development and delivery.

The firm was also behind helping Deloitte in Belfast to expand operations in Northern Ireland. It produced a recruitment campaign for them, including photographing staff getting splashed with paint.

AV Browne said the message was “when you come to work for Deloitte not only do you get something completely different but your own individuality is a seen as valued asset”.