When creative and legal work together

Glynn Hayward is a creative guy with some great ideas (BAFTA award winning, in fact). From dreaming up brilliant kids games ideas in his kitchen, to building a successful business with 18 staff hasn't been a quick transition though. Glynn has made it work through thinking ahead and protecting his commercial interests.

With his company Complete Control having just joined the exclusive BBC Digital Design Services roster along with only 9 other global agencies, that's pretty exciting. They also have contracts in place with Sky, Entertainment One and Lego to name a few, and their own Bebods brand is growing fast.   Being based just outside Bath in a converted barn also means that it's a beautiful working environment with a great culture to match.

So what has Glynn done to make this happen? One element is that he's a strong believer in legal support to underpin his creativity, and that of his team. "It's one thing to think that you've sold this great idea to a global brand, but quite another if you find out in a years’ time that they own the rights to it now, not you." he says. 

Glynn started working with Ian Grimley at Bristol-based niche law firm Roxburgh Milkins Limited in 2015 when the size of contracts they were securing meant they needed expert help.  He strongly believes this approach has really helped them move the business forward. "Having Ian looking at our contracts and making sure everything is right for us is so important. There have been situations where we knew we couldn't go ahead with a project if it wasn't set up as we needed, and he gave us the right structure to do that. It shows us to be a bit more astute when it comes to dealing with these big players too - not only protecting our intellectual property but making us more professional into the bargain".

Complete Control know they can push something straight to Roxburgh Milkins and have them pick it up quickly, and with a sound commercial awareness of their business. In turn, they can focus on the ideas and imaginative content for the next phase in their development - safe in the knowledge that it will still be their own.

Ian Grimley sees Complete Control as a good example of what similar businesses should be doing – recognising legal support as positive investment in the future, to secure their creative investments.  He explains that “Glynn understands that having the right legals in place is helping build his brand and his business, protecting - rather than being a barrier - to creativity”. 

Glynn is keen to share this concept and success with others: "I'd really recommend some of the smaller agencies out there - who are coming up with amazing stuff - to think about getting some legal support now.  The two actually go hand in hand very well to help us be leaders in our field and we look forward to what's coming next".