In the hot seat - Gary Brine

"Agencies are hired on creativity and fired for every other reason," he says. "We've just got to get all the other stuff right." The other stuff ranges from accountability to transparent fee structures, the lack of which particularly aggravate him. "I know there are still agencies out there that think of a number and then double it," he says. Though he acknowledges such practises are uncommon, he feels agencies need to do more to address these issues. "If this industry wants to be taken seriously, then we need to start regulating ourselves."

To that end, he has begun work with MCCA managing director Scott Knox to develop a new accreditation system for members. For Brine, this is about making members "start to understand what it is to be a responsible agency" and giving them a competitive edge. "I think to say that you're a good creative agency isn't enough anymore. That's like a petrol station saying, 'Hey, we sell petrol.'" He hopes the new accreditation will generate new business for the members by reassuring prospective clients that they meet certain regulatory standards.

Another aim, he says, is "to provide services that reward our membership's loyalty". This means ensuring that its graduate schemes and its legal and training services are used to full advantage. But in Brine's view, this is something that isn't being considered enough.

Other initiatives planned include the creation of an assistant chairman position to help provide a succession plan when the chairman departs. Brine hopes this will be in place when his term is up so that continuity is ensured.

For the time being, though, he feels there's plenty to be getting on with and that his background as founder of Gyro has given him vital experience. "I've been in the business for 24 years now and pretty much any problem that an agency can come across, I've had."

His experience is now telling him difficult times are ahead. "If there are any agency owners out there who don't think they're about to enter difficult times, they need to have a cold bath," he jokes. To him, a recession is part of the economic cycle and not a reason to panic. He sees the MCCA's role as helping businesses prepare for the inevitable.

Marketing wasn't always his chosen field. In his teens he was a professional ice hockey player, representing Britain on several occasions. He now balances family life with work as a community school governor for an inner-city sports college and takes part in a gang project that tries to help young people escape a life of a crime.

It's when his personal projects come up that his dedication to improving agencies and their responsibility becomes a little clearer. "I have got a really big social conscience because I just think that in our own small way, as Gyro, as the MCCA, as Gary Brine, we can improve things a little bit." For Brine, this means that corporate social responsibility becomes a priority.

He views the chairmanship as a means to an end. "I couldn't give a toss about being the chairman of the MCCA - what I give a toss about is helping young and up-and-coming agencies that have got their future in front of them to be better agencies and to help them to overcome the challenges that I know are coming down the road."

CV
2008: Chairman, MCCA
1991: Founder and CEO, Gyrographic
1986: Account director, CGA London