Maurice and Charles Saatchi celebrate 40 years in advertising at star-studded event in London

AsM&C Saatchi founders Maurice and Charles celebrated 40 years inadvertising in London last night, worldwide chairman Tom Dery reflectson the agency’s first 15 years of operation with an eye to the future.

Themost famous siblings in advertising commemorated four decades astrideBritish advertising and culture with a big party at London’s SaatchiGallery last night.

On the guest list at ‘Saatchistory’ were SirElton John, Bono, Sir David Attenborough; present and past PrimeMinisters John Major, David Cameron and Baroness Thatcher (picturedwith Lord Maurice Saatchi), celebrated artists, actors and titans ofBritish advertising.

It is part of advertising folklore thatMaurice and Charles broke away from the agency network they founded in1970 to start up M&C Saatchi in 1995.

Dery was immediately brought on board to launch the Australian and New Zealand arms ofthe business and from nothing has been instrumental in building it intoone of Australasia’s largest and most influential marketing servicescompanies.

“It’s great to take a moment to applaud the enormous amount Maurice andCharles have achieved in this industry and many other fields,” saysDery.

“A major component of the Saatchi story is M&C Saatchi. The networkhas been very fortunate to grow and expand around the world in everyone of its 15 years of operation.”

However, M&C Saatchi is not about to rest on its laurels, saysDery: “The network in general and the Australian and New Zealand arm in particular haveinvested a lot in recent years to implement structures and initiativesthat will enable the agency to best tackle the myriad challenges andopportunities our clients face in a rapidly evolving market and mediaspace. So it’s what’s in front of us and what’s around the corner thatreally excites me.”