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Celebrating 40 Years of Creativity

In 2026, Shaw Marketing and Design reached a major milestone in its long story – the 40th anniversary of our establishment. We’re amazed and delighted to clock up our ruby anniversary. It’s been quite a trip!

The story began back in 1986 when a charismatic son of Belfast, John Shaw – with Lyn Drysdale (now McMorland), Gordon Lee, and Chico Ramos – set up Shaw Marketing, Design, and Print Consultants. From a basement in Edinburgh’s Queen Street, the creative wheels began to turn. These were heady and fruitful days, catapulted forward by award-winning work for clients such as the Scottish Tourist Board, Wm Low, the Edrington Group, Scottish & Newcastle, the Scottish Sports Council, Scottish Equitable, and many others from across the private, public, and third sectors.

With a focus on building great relationships and delivering outstanding results for clients, the business grew rapidly. A long-served member of today’s team, Gordon Murray, joined in 1987 and two years later, Alastair Bruce, one of Shaw’s first clients who would go on to become managing director, joined from the Scottish Sports Council (now sportscotland). New designers such as Dave Sneddon and Paul Storie, and digital experts such as Darren Wilson, brought their expertise and drove forward the quality and breadth of our service.

Congratulations

Ann Budge

“What a milestone and what an achievement! Well done to you all!”

Tendi Sherpa

“I remain grateful for the care, creativity, and professionalism”

Liz McAreavey

“Shaw has continued to evolve and look after clients’ needs”

John Shaw

“Creating a ‘family’ ethic was always the ambition”

Shetland Office Launched

In 2000 Isabel Johnson set up our Shetland office, a unique initiative for a Central Belt-based marketing consultancy and one which continues to serve clients in the Northern Isles and beyond. Isabel herself went on to take up the post of Shaw’s deputy managing director.

All businesses operate in the context of political, financial, technological, and even health-based challenges and opportunities, and over our 40 years we have seen our fair share of all of these. We have battled through recessions and a pandemic, we have embraced new technology to enhance the service we deliver, we have aimed to create a culture which enables our people to thrive, and we have always gone the extra mile to further the objectives of our clients.

Along the way, we changed our name (slightly), we were the first marketing services company in Scotland (just the third in the UK) to achieve the Investors in People award, we were selected as the best small business in the Lothian region, we picked up a national award for our sponsorship of the arts, our team raised funds for a number of charities, and we’ve moved office a few times.

All About Our Clients

Most importantly, though, these 40 years have been all about our clients. We have helped them to develop their marketing strategies, communicate effectively with their audiences, grow their business, look and sound great, and win some awards. And equally importantly for us, we (and we hope it works both ways!) have absolutely loved working with them.

So our thanks go to every one of our clients with whom we have worked over the years. It has been our pleasure to have great relationships with many businesses and organisations, big and small, in Scotland and beyond. We thank you sincerely for trusting us and we look forward to continuing these relationships and driving your marketing and communications forward for you now and in the future.

Thanks, too, to our wonderful suppliers and partners – photographers, illustrators, techies, printers, production houses, and others. The quality of your support has been invaluable.

The Next Chapter

And finally, any business is only as good as its people, and that is especially true in our sector. We are a small team, and as such any success we have is built on every member of that team working together to deliver a quality service focused single-mindedly on clients’ aims and requirements.

To Isabel, Gordon, Aimee, John, Sophie, Stephanie – today’s Shaw team – thank you for doing just that, for playing your part in our reaching this significant milestone, and for being the foundation for the next chapter in Shaw’s long and creative story.

 

Alastair Bruce
Managing Director

Liz McAreavey

Chief Executive, Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce

Congratulations to the multi-talented team at Shaw for 40 years of serving the business community in Edinburgh, a great achievement!

Delivering a wide range of services from digital marketing, branding, multi-media, and campaigns, Shaw has continued to evolve and look after clients’ needs in a fast moving and competitive digital environment.

We look forward to the next 40 years of outstanding delivery and customer service and are very proud to have Shaw as members of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

Tendi Sherpa

Mountaineer and author. Has summitted Mount Everest 18 times.

Congratulations to everyone at Shaw Marketing and Design on reaching this incredible 40-year milestone.

It has been a pleasure working together through the Tendi Sherpa Foundation, and I remain grateful for the care, creativity, and professionalism your team brought to our branding and website.

Wishing you continued success for the next chapter and many more years of inspiring work ahead

Ann Budge

Honorary President of Heart of Midlothian

Recently awarded the OBE for services to sport and the community. Former Entrepreneur of the Year; shortlisted in the British Business Awards’ Business Leader of the Year category; inducted into the Entrepreneurial Exchange Hall of Fame.

Dear Alastair

I am writing to pass on my personal congratulations to you and everyone at Shaw Marketing and Design for reaching your amazing 40-year anniversary.  What a milestone and what an achievement!   Well done to you all!

When I was first introduced to you, back in the mid-90s, it was to ask you to develop a new company brochure for my IT company, Newell and Budge Ltd.  I wanted something professional, different, and with a modern feel.  You and your team fulfilled all of my expectations.  When, years later, I became involved with the Foundation of Hearts and realised how badly they needed help on the marketing front, I had no hesitation in once again, asking for your help.  You again delivered an outstanding service, building a relationship with FoH that has stood the test of time brilliantly.

However, what I will always be eternally grateful for is the magnificent work you and your team carried out in helping Hearts FC to develop and deliver their amazing Museum.  This stands as a testament to the creativity and dedication Shaw puts into every project they undertake.

Finally, I cannot fail to mention the outstanding work you and your team carried out on Hearts’ Maroon Mile project.  This was many years in the planning and once again, your commitment to helping Hearts achieve the completion of this project in time to celebrate their 150th anniversary, was outstanding.

You have built a company of which you can be truly proud.  40 Years!  Who would ever have believed it!

Many congratulations to you and everyone at Shaw Marketing and Design.

John Shaw

Founder and former managing director of Shaw Marketing and Design

Shaw Design, Marketing, and Print Consultants opened its doors on 1 April 1986 (how appropriate to be April Fools Day!), and we very soon established ourselves as innovative, highly creative, highly focused, and highly reactive. It was a time when the best of consultancies thrived and budgets were not as tight as in today’s world.

We set out to become a leading branding agency - ahead of our time in that respect - and to good effect. The marketing element was beefed up, and the name changed to reflect that.

Just as competitors were eying up London offices, we looked as far north as we could, opening our Lerwick office in Shetland in 2000. Ever since, this has proved an important part of the business, expertly led by Isabel Johnson.

To demonstrate our flexibility and forward thinking, we involved ourselves in other business streams, taking a shareholding in Waterside Television in the 1990s as well as helping a staff member realise his ambition around the world wide web - providing seed corn funding and office space for Company Net (later bought by Shell).

Creating a ‘family’ ethic was always the ambition and these core beliefs, plus cooperative and relationship working, are still very much in evidence.

I’m delighted to see the company has ridden out 40 years of changing fortunes and is still producing such outstanding work – whether it be it in considered strategic solutions or creative implementation.