CLOSE-UP: LIVE ISSUE - HOOPER GALTON A gold award may put this agency firmly on adland's radar. Jenny Watts reports.

Hooper Galton. Not really an agency name automatically associated with fellow independent start ups Mother, Clemmow Hornby Inge or Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy. But the shop, unknown to much of adland, surprised everyone by scooping gold at the Campaign Press Awards last week for its Discovery Networks Europe ad, 'age of terror'.

It was quite a coup for the agency, which was founded in 1999 by the creative partners Steve Hooper and Martin Galton and the managing partner Oliver Lewis-Barclay, none of whom deny the shop's regrettably low profile. 'We started up in a blaze of invisibility,' Hooper admits.

The three equal shareholders launched Hooper Galton after leaving Bartle Bogle Hegarty where they were all long-serving employees, especially Hooper, who'd been there for 15 years.

Galton, a ten-year veteran, had a break as Tim Delaney's partner and head of art at Leagas Delaney before returning to the BBH fold, and Lewis-Barclay spent eight years at BBH, joining from J. Walter Thompson in 1986.

Having been ensconced in such a creative environment for so long, it was inevitable the agency would position itself as a creatively led shop.

'Delicious monsters' is how they term it, a metaphor for creating brand ideas that aim to be both huge and appealing.

Despite its lack of profile, Hooper Galton has built a varied client base spanning numerous categories. Discovery is no longer a client, having opted to take its business in-house, but the client list includes Emap's Yours and New Woman magazines, House of Fraser, New Covent Garden Food Company, the Soil Association, Bakehouse and Whiteleys Shopping Centre.