Your award-winning agency team

 
 

Who the LR we?

 
 
 

StudioLR is a creative agency that believes in guts.

We’ve been grabbing people’s insides and making them interesting since 2004. From strategy through to execution, we work with ambitious marketeers and leaders to build standout brands and campaigns.

If you work with us, you can expect us to get our hands dirty – poking around until we get to the heart of your organisation. Then you can expect big, bold, attention-seeking ideas that get you noticed and remembered.

 
 
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Awards galore

We’re in the business of attention-seeking…
and we’ve been well-recognised for it.
With over 60 national and international awards
for creativity and effectiveness, including:

 
 

  • Two-time SME Agency of the Year

  • Rising Creative Star Winners 2023, 2022 & 2021

  • A shelf-full of Gold Awards

Global D&AD winners for:

  • Writing for brands

  • Identity design 

  • Brand naming

 

Strategic Creative Development Award

  • Grand Prix (twice) 

  • Brand Identity 

  • Out of Home

  • Brand Experience

  • Grand Prix

  • Chairman’s Award 

  • Team of the Year 

  • Corporate Identity

 

  • Most Innovative Communication
    two years in a row

 
 
Why Work with us?

So you want work with guts. You want razor-sharp strategy.
Rib-tickling creative. But what are we really like to work with?

These are the principles we pour into every project…

 
 

Autopilot is off

No job is small enough to be done without thinking. Or without a creative spark. Everything gets challenged. Everything gets improved.

Thirst for knowledge

We’re good. We’re confident. But we’re not egomaniacs. We stay open and constantly learn from clients, competitors and each other.

 

Straight-talkin’

We tell it like it is. We don’t butter people up, we don’t talk about things we don’t understand, and we don’t spout rubbish.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Respect people, care about people, enjoy the ride, and try to help other people enjoy it too.

 
 
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Meet the team
 

“Build a team of hungry fighters and anything’s possible.”

Andrew Gray
Founder & Head of Business

  • An entrepreneur and business owner with over 25 years in the creative industry, Andy cut his teeth in advertising before going client side and co-founded StudioLR in 2004.

  • Committed to the highest standards of business integrity and effectiveness for clients, a certified Marty Neumeier Brand Specialist (Level C) and completed Mark Ritson’s Mini MBA in marketing.

  • Andy is an active member of the Marketing Society and founding member of The Purposeful Network – a network of innovative company leaders, helping businesses make a positive difference to the world.

  • Proud ambassador for Seamab, a residential school supporting vulnerable children, and supporter of Spartans Community Football Academy, a social enterprise changing lives in North Edinburgh.


 
 

“Does it have enough stand-out to make my nieces notice? And enough honesty to make my old man proud?”

Dave King
Head of Creative & Strategy

  • A big show-off who loves helping brands stand out, Dave is a regular conference speaker on brave creative work. He created D&AD’s Bravery Masterclass and delivers it worldwide to some of the world’s best agencies and in-house teams.

  • A skilled listener, questioner, and thinker with over a decade’s experience creating insightful workshops, stand-out strategy, and cut-through creative.

  • A serial award-winner since joining the agency in 2011, including multiple Golds and Rising Creative Star at the Marketing Society, a global D&AD for Writing for Brands, and the Grand Prix at The Nods (twice).

  • Addicted to learning – trained in brand and campaign strategy with global industry leaders including Marty Neumeier, Mark Pollard, and Michael Johnson, and completed Mark Ritson’s Mini MBA in marketing.

 
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“The world can be ugly. Making it a little less so is a constant joy.”

Mark Wheeler
Head of Design

  • Impeccable standards and over 20 years’ experience in the industry, developing quality creative ideas for print, digital and experiential. Art directing everything from global photoshoots to multi-sensory brand experiences.

  • Filled the agency’s top shelf with award wins since 2008, from a global D&AD for Brand Identity Design, and Gold at the Marketing Society, to the Grand Prix at both the Scottish Design Awards and The Nods.

  • Experienced leader of successful projects for flagship clients including John Lewis, Prudential and Whyte & Mackay.

  • Completed Mark Ritson’s Mini MBA in marketing.


 
 

“Sort through the clutter, make things simple - creativity needs space to grow.”

Rhona Cruickshank
Head of Operations

  • With 20 years’ industry experience, Rhona understands how to bring the creative process, production know-how, and sound project management together seamlessly – keeping the whole studio running on target, on time, and to the highest standards.

  • A detail-stickler and keen learner, Rhona graduated with first class honours and has continued to develop throughout her career – completing Mark Ritson’s Mini MBA in marketing, the Open University’s People Management and Leadership course, and winning a WACL Talent Award 2022.

  • Rhona is a member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), a Mental Health First Aider, and Emergency First Aider.

 
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“If the project doesn’t feel like work, you know you’re onto a winner.”

Nicola Laurie
Senior Creative

  • Serial award-winner, including Rising Creative Star at the Marketing Society Star Awards 2021, Best Young Creative 2020 and the Grand Prix at The Nods, and shortlisted for the Drum’s global Young Designer of the Year Award 2018.

  • Super-talented, multi-disciplinary creative with specialist skills in digital and motion design.

  • Major player working on recent brand and marketing projects including Rokbak, Fettercairn, and the D-Day Story.

  • Nic is the agency’s lead for Daydream Believers, putting creativity at the heart of education.


 
 

“Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”

Joy Mooney
Creative

  • A versatile creative with a background in digital design, PR, and a passion for gut-grabbing campaigns, advertising and social.

  • Batting away the competition with bold ideas - winning gold at the DMA awards in 2018, a Creative Edinburgh award and nomination in 2019, and a regular One Minute Brief champion.

  • Another proud Daydream Believer, leading creative-thinking workshops in secondary schools and a day-one figure in the development of the project.

  • Winner Rising Creative Star 2023 - Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards

 
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“Get creatively swole.”

Ben Whiting
Creative

  • A self-confessed tech nerd, Ben started his career in digital before moving into a broader role in direct marketing and creative.

  • A creative all-rounder with experience building brands, crafting advertising ideas, and working across digital, 3D, photography and print. He has a particular expertise in digital content and motion graphic animation.

  • Brought up living and working in pubs and hotels, he's managed to only drop a baked potato on a child's head once.

  • Winner Rising Creative Star 2022 - Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards


 
 

“Consider that you're asleep and remember to inspire people.”

Adam Hepburn
Creative

  • A skilled designer and typography-geek with an incredible eye for detail.

  • Adam won the Best in Show award at his degree show and kicked off his career in a London-based music marketing agency.

  • Joining StudioLR in early 2023, Adam has become a vital part of the team – crafting stand-out brand identities and campaigns across print, digital and motion graphics.

 
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“The excellence of execution – the best there is, the best there was…and the best there ever will be.”

Daniel Paylor
Copywriter

  • Danny knows all of the best words (you can test him), and often combines them with a dazzlingly insightful creative approach which makes for bold-as-brass concepts that snap, crackle, and sometimes also pop.

  • A talented copywriter with a soft spot for strategy, Danny is a natural yarn-spinner. He’s the go-to guy when it comes to crafting copy with chutzpah.

  • Danny has years of experience penning headlines, scripts, campaign ideas, blogs, and more for the likes of Fettercairn Whisky, Edinburgh Leisure, Halifax, Jura, Scottish Widows, and Amnesty International.

 
 
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“There’s a solution for everything, you just need to know where to look.”

Mel Gladstone
Business & Account Manager

  • Herder of creative cats, Mel has over 25 years’ experience in the industry, managing creatives, suppliers and stakeholders.

  • A serial plate-spinner, she’s delivered projects and campaigns for the likes of NatWest, TNT, Tesco Bank and Citizens Advice. 

  • Having worked both client and agency side – she gets what it takes to build a great working partnership, so everyone can deliver their best.


 
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Hannah Sturdy
Account Manager

  • A first-class Marketing Masters graduate, Hannah started her career in the fast-paced property industry where she gained valuable experience managing and delivering high-impact projects for big names like Savills and Cruden Homes.

  • A detailed listener and fastidious note taker, Hannah is a stickler for the fine details. 

  • Whether she’s planning out schedules or solving unexpected problems, she brings a relentless positive drive to everything she manages.



 
 

“Ask better questions. Get better answers.”

Lucy Richards
Co-founder of StudioLR & Leader of Better Company

  • Creative agency leader for over 25 years, Lucy nurtures and develops our team, and advises on all key business decisions.

  • Champion for inclusive design with expertise developing communications for diverse groups of people, Lucy has dedicated her recent career to making a positive impact on society – heading up our better-half Better Company.

  • Mentor with MCR Pathways, helping young people experience equality of education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances, and Ambassador for Seamab (specialist school for children who’ve experienced severe trauma).

  • Fellow of the RSA (uniting people and ideas to resolve the challenges of our times) and regular speaker at conferences, un-conferences and meet-ups, sharing insights on social purpose branding and inclusive design.

  • Notable awards include the Best Social Good Campaign 2020 at the Nods Awards for the Any Disability symbol, created to raise awareness of hidden disabilities.

 
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Michelle Heller
Office Manager & Finance

Organiser-extraordinaire, former restaurant owner and manager, counter of cash, keeper of spreadsheets, and ‘good sort’ in every possible way.

 
 

Rosie Berridge
Finance Manager

Finance expert and incredibly-savvy accounting and bookkeeping business owner, with a knack for making time and cost-saving systems work.

 
 

Stephen Berridge
Production Manager

Print and production manager with over 25 years’ experience. Somehow able to hit even the most outrageous deadlines.