The master of “big reveals”
When The Shard skyscraper was unveiled to crowds in London with a mesmerising laser show in 2012, there was no one in the capital scurrying around faster than Anton Jerges, says Alex Lawson in the Evening Standard.
The marketing entrepreneur had also arranged a VIP dinner a few miles away that night, attended by former London mayor Ken Livingstone and a clutch of Qatari royals, at which a live orchestra attempted to play along to the Shard’s glistening lights. It was tough, says Jerges. “It turns out light and sound travel at different speeds!”
But Jerges is no stranger to “big reveals”, having overseen launches for Qantas and Jaguar’s Formula One team. Jerges began working in advertising in the 1980s, and struck out on his own in 1997 with long-term business partner Del Manning. Their agency, Qudos, rode the dotcom bubble and the growing telecoms market.
After six years they sold out and started Collider, bringing in TV industry veteran Tony Kelly as chair-man, to focus on product launches and brand repositioning. It’s not all been plain sailing: in 2015, their accountant “skipped the country with company money”, says Lawson. Yet Collider has nonetheless flourished. Annual turnover has tripled to £6m in the past three years, and is nearing £7m this year.
Link here to the money makers story on the Moneyweek website