Company History

Company History 2002-2010

Contact Field Marketing & Solutions was founded by Susan French and Christine Taylor in November 2002.

March 2003 Contact FM&S gained its first client Procter& Gamble to launch Lacoste Pour Femme in Boots stores nationwide. Other clients and contracts gained in 2003 included in-store sampling and brand promotions nationwide on behalf of Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Clairol, Debenhams Mega Days and Alders spectacular days.

2004 Contact FM&S moved in to new premises and a Client Services Manager, Account handlers and office administrators were recruited. It was now the time to structure the field staff to include managers and supervisors. The client base continued to grow, merchandising was carried out on behalf of Bushboard in independent kitchen showrooms, Masterplug in Tesco, Stonegate Eggs in Asda, Antler luggage in John Lewis. In store sampling campaigns were carried out on behalf of Clairol, Hugo Boss and Lacoste, Ormo who make speciality bread in Asda.

Contact FM&S was recognised as Best Newcomers in the Journals North East Women Entrepreneur Awards in 2004.

2005 saw the staff data base increase to over 4,000. The client base now included Brands such as Max Factor, Fruit of the Loom, Olay, The Learning &Skills Council, Pedigree Pet Foods, BP and Thermacare.

The Contact Team where now managing large national contracts on behalf of many different clients and their brands in most high street stores and supermarkets nationwide such as Sainsbury, Safeway, WH Smith, Makro, TJ Hughes, Ethel Austin, John Lewis, Debenhams and Makro.

2005 Contact FM&S was recognised in the North Tyneside Business Awards as best business in the services category.

2006 a Client Services Director was appointed to head up the tendering process for the Sport Magazine contract. CFM&S were invited to tender to manage the hand to hand distribution network of Sport along with 15 other Field Marketing Companies. The New Business Development Team was ultimately successful and identified as the distribution partner to launch Sport in the UK, after a number of complex pitches whilst maintaining confidentiality with regard to the concept.

2006 clients remained delighted with the service offered and continued to engage Contact to manage national campaigns on behalf of their brands. Procter& Gamble in particular is a client we continue to get repeat business from, which in itself is a testimonial to the level of service and professionalism offered by the Contact Team. New clients and brands this year include, Audi, Alba, The Mars Group, Herdsman Beef, House of Dorchester, Brownes Chocolates, G Growers, Cow & Gate, Plum Baby and Thermacare.

2007 Repeat business continued from existing clients and new clients and brands included Yell.com, Bella Magazine, G Tech, Gold Key Media, Kivetons Kitchen, Medway Foods, Greencore. The Wet Suit Company, Tilda Rice and Toppings Pies.

In addition Contact began to be approached by public sector organisations such as local authorities, national health trusts and fire brigades and consequently won several contracts utilising below the line services.

2007 Contact FM&S won several awards including the North Tyneside Business Awards for Services and also the overall award in all categories. It was exciting and motivational to receive a special commendation from the judges of the Field Marketing & Brand Experience awards which are industry specific for our logistics entry for Sport Magazine.

2008 we changed our name to Contact Field Marketing & Solutions, launched our new website and invested in bespoke reporting systems, which has made a huge difference to our operations.

The largest contract gained this year was the Independent Newspaper. Contact FM&S were contracted to carry out poster runs in independent CTNs nationwide, in addition there have been many events, festivals and activity at universities etc. Other new clients included Bourne Leisure, Citi Bank, The Continuity Company, Dare Magazine, Kenwood, Virgin, The NSPCC, Yale and Yoplait.

Contact FM&S won silver for the most effective in store sales and demonstration on behalf of Kenwood and were finalists for the logistics award for Dare Magazine at the Field Marketing and Brand Awareness Awards.

2009 to date Contact continues to gain new clients and service existing clients. We have recently diversified in to the public sector, tendering for contracts with the NHS and Local Authorities.

2010 Contact FM&S has employed over 5,600 field staff nationwide, representing over 500 clients promoting their brands or services and have arguably the largest staff databases in the industry in excess of 22,000.