Creative Times

Victorian Mills still punctuate Manchester’s skyline – even though most now are host to loft apartments for city dwellers. But for their role in the rise of Manchester’s original creative industry (the rag trade) those dark satanic mills will forever have a place in the hearts and minds of the city’s creatives – as CREATIVE Times found out when they caught up with Liz Birkbeck, former MD of Bubble, to get the low-down on her brand new venture…

During her ten years with Bubble, one of Manchester’s pioneering moving image and online agencies, Liz Birkbeck worked with a world-class roster of clients, including Sony JD Sports, Urban Splash and the BBC. As MD and the public face of the company, she was (and still is) one of the most networked creatives in the Manchester area. In setting up her new venture Mill Co, Liz is finally looking to turn these contacts to her advantage.

“Bubble was brilliant, an amazing learning curve but it was time for me to move on,” she says. “We wanted to embrace the independent, freelance community. Claire and I are both natural connectors, it’s how we operate - we’ve come across so many talented people that we’ve both been dying to work with and also that we know would be perfect fit for a particular job.”

Liz’s business partner Claire Martin also comes from an esteemed creative background – starting at Manchester’s Grand Central Records, then relocating to the capital to work in marketing for companies such as Diesel, Topshop and Wrangler Europe. Claire suggested the idea for Mill Co to Liz.

“The potential excited me,” she says, “perhaps it’s the entrepreneurial spirit or simply the fact that the model seemed to fit perfectly with the changing economy, but the idea resonated with us both.”

The Mill Co approach is to create unique teams for every project they take on, based on the client’s requirements. And it’s a very modern post-crunch take on business.

“For each job we take on, we’ll have a flexible team of freelancers - people only employed to that particular job. Therefore the client only pays that fee and not for any other expensive overhead.”

As a business that has started up whilst the economy stalled, Liz argues that the timing is just right for a new agency model. “Through the recession we’ll all work harder, not take situations for granted, be more efficient, use technology and social networks more creatively,” she says. “Agencies aren’t running at full capacity, they gear up when a large project is clinched and downscale when it’s complete. Mill Co will offer exactly what clients and agencies are currently looking for. It’s new business model and a brand new way of working.”

With Liz and Claire both proud Rochdalians, it’s not surprising that the town has had a bearing on both their co-operative approach and the company name.

“Rochdale was the birthplace of co-operation and the creator of the very first successful co-operative model,” says Liz. “We grew up surrounded by derelict Victorian, cotton mills - reminders of the industrial revolution, creation, community and hard work.”

In the early 90s, when they both moved to Manchester’s City Centre they couldn’t help but still love and respect the mills around them. So when they set up the new company, ‘Mill Co-operation’ seemed to be the obvious name and place to house their virtual creative community.

Drawing their inspiration from Bowie, La Corbusier, 80s synth pop, Saville, flea markets and Bauhaus, amongst others, Liz is keen to start shouting about some of Mill Co’s forthcoming work.

“We’re now just about ready and are raring to go,” she says. “We’ve had a few interesting projects that have come our way, including a job for a new range of Tetley Tea but all of our projects are hush-hush at the moment!”

Although Mill Co’s work is firmly under wraps at the moment, the team have already secured a few major collaborators. Legendary photographer (and City-fan) Kevin Cummins is onboard, as is Colin O’Toole (director of Ian Brown’s latest video, ‘Stellify’).

“Coming from Manchester and being big music fans we have always been admirers of Kevin’s work.” enthused Liz, “His recent book launch and exhibition encouraged us to get in touch with him. He liked the idea and is keen to move into new areas so he agreed to join us, and Colin is a really diverse film-maker. He’s worked with some amazing musicians and his documentary work is outstanding.”

Until these exciting projects go live, Liz and Claire are focusing on getting the company firmly in the hearts and minds of the creative community. They’ve brought in Adam Rix (ex Creative director at Love) to develop their corporate ID and website, with Jono Brain helping out on coding duties. The site will be live any day soon we’re told, and the team are looking to expand their pool of collaborators.

“We’re always looking to expand the community,” says Liz “and at the moment we’re looking for people with skills in digital and moving image. We’re looking for great quality though - we fully vet all community members before we bring anyone in to the Mill Co fold.”

W: www.millco.co.uk E: hello@millco.co.uk