John Ford reopens The One Centre
The One Centre is back and so is founder John Ford, Mumbrella can reveal.
The branding powerhouse, which employed about 60, was among the Australian marketing industry’s highest profile victims of the global downturn.
Founder John Ford has obtained the backing of private equity firm The Adcock Group to return to the fray after the company went into voluntary administration last April owing staff and suppliers thousands of dollars.
Great interview John.
Transfer would more then happily support you guys should you be looking for digital talent or production overflow.
What a fantastically honest interview. Times have been tough, businesses have gone under, it is great to hear from a business that has experienced the worst and now has plans to re-enter the market. John Ford, i wish you and your team the best of luck with your business, your honesty is refreshing.
funny how he never mentions these facts
– he spent more than $1million on a crazy office fit out
– the agency was more than $4m in revenue down on it’s target for the year by the time it went under (so it was waaaay more than one bad debt)
– they never sent an invoice to Dubai until the debt was over $900k
– staff were asked to put agency expenses on their personal credit cards in the weeks leading up to the end, when it must have been obvious to him that there was no hope of them getting their money back
– there was less than $20 in the overdraft facility for the week before the receivers came in and yet he had all his staff working until the day before their pay day, knowing that they wouldn’t be paid but not saying anything.
It’s lovely to stand in the front row of church with your hands in the air and to write ‘faith hope and love’ on your creds, but when you then stiff the people who work for you and your company, that is called hypocrisy
I almost feel sorry for him watching this….until I remember that he owed me more than 20 grand for more than 6 months.
that business was run in a shonky fashion. Anybody who has read the creditor’s documents knows that the business was run badly for a long time before the end came.
The backlash is to be expected. However it takes an incredibly driven and strong character to pick themselves up and start again knowing there will be scrutinisation from the outset. Best of luck to him and the rebuilding the new business.
He always seemed particularly deluded when I worked there. Able to sell a great story but rarely to fully deliver on it. He got great talent in the door and paid them well but couldn’t keep most of them for long. It was clear when I worked there years before the GFC that there was no way the business was sustainable – that’s why people moved on. Love the idea re the arts though – as usual he has something there, but he needs to execute (perhaps with a lot less hubris than before).
Sj, anon….John, is that you sitting there moderating the negatives – you are a PR guy after all.
Quote from Nakheel website:
Dubai, 25 March 2010
Nakheel today announces a comprehensive recapitalisation plan of its debt and liabilities. The plan enables Nakheel to offer creditors 100 percent of agreed amounts owed and to fulfill its obligations to customers through the prompt completion of near term projects.
Maybe they should resubmit a few invoices and pay those effected by their closure?
That’d be a good news story.
Here’s a way to rebuild the relationships and trust that you’re seeking, John – pay everyone you owe, including your suppliers and your staff, all the money that you owe them.
bang on St. Or…how about sharing out some equity to all those you owe
what makes me laugh is thinking back to that rubbish he used to have on his website about being a world branding agency, total branding and the rest of the shite he spouted. it was utter drivel.
if he’s such a brand expert, does he really think that f*cking over a load of people in a very small industry, hiding out for a few months licking his wounds and then relaunching in the same market to the same clients, trying to attract the same staff WITH THE SAME BRAND NAME, is such a good idea?
maybe he should do some one of his overpriced research projects (yes, I’m a former client) to find out what the One Centre actually stands for at the moment
Ex staffer/ Stiffed supplier/ Cynic/ Nick/ Big John,
I can tell that most of the comemnts above come from the same IP address.
Your view is valid, but only in one identify please.
Particularly when you are claiming to both be a supplier and a staffer. You may have legitimate gripes, but you undermine their credibility by lying about who you are.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
In my humble opinion, the way Mr.Ford went about getting the OPSM business from the very person whom he was paid to work with did him no credit whatsoever.
Everyone is entitled to a second chance. And, if John had opened up with a new company name I’m sure people would be more likely to give him one (or at least the slagging may not have started as quickly).
However, once again, his ego gets in the way. He just can’t accept the failure the company was and has to try and resurrect it.
To say it’s a better business for what’s happened? He may be a better businessman, arguably. He is entitled to think that. However, it shows his downfall in thinking that he is the business – and not his clients. And that’s what got him into trouble in the first place.
Mr Ford may have put everything on the line.
(Edited by Mumbrella for legal reasons)
it’s too easy to blame the gfc. plenty of new companies successfully launched and many old ones prospered over the last few years.
only when he has repaid all the money he owes good people will he regain respect.
until then i don’t know how he sleeps at night.
Would you like to be in a situation where you have too support a family of 5 including himself, running a huge business with over 60 staff and actually have a life unlike you.
Genius or madman? Innocent victim or stupidly naive excuse for a businessman? Ego-maniac or charismatic charmer?
Methinks a weird combo of all these things.
Ex staffer
There are many critics here but I question how many of them have established a company and gone through the considerable stress and pressure of having to pay staff every week regardless of whether clients pay you; paying the rent every week; paying for equipment; continuing operations and servicing clients even when staff are off sick or not focusing due to personal problems et al.
Have the critics spent night after night awake worried about retaining a client or ensuring the client pays?
Staff at any company do not, and can not, have the ability to appreciate the incredible stress of running a company. As long as they are paid every week, it’s all good.
Unless you have been in the situation that John Ford has you really not in any position to be critical. John Ford paid staff for many months, not paying himself which was the right thing to do and you would expect that. He wasn’t, like many other company owners, driving luxurious cars, throwing money around, stashing money for himself.
On the contrary he lost everything, his home the lot. Of course I understand the bitterness of people who have lost money but it is very easy to blame John Ford.
How about blaming Nakeel, that AUS$1.5 million sure would have come in handy. What about the Australian government who seriously let the company and JF down, so much for supporting Australian businesses.
I once ran a company and I would never do it again, ever. I had to take the horrendous kick when a client was in trouble and couldn’t pay but I had to come up with staff salaries which I did. I had to worry about keeping clients yet staff couldn’t really care less as long as they got paid.
I suggest to critics on here, go out and give it a shot then come back in 12 months and let us know how it’s all going.
Was never a client, but admired the vision and passion from a distance.
From reading the extended post of John’s and everything above, it looks like it would be good if the Nakheel creditors arrangements are true then the money could somehow flow to all those owed it – especially employees with wages – and John (if he’s entitled to any money) pays himself last.
The challenge of saying sorry to everyone for the damage of the past and doing what is just would be a massive thing to work through personally – I know how many people I’ve hurt and disappointed through life in general, let alone trying to run a globally expanding business.
John appears to acknowledge many of the one centres’ original weaknesses, particularly centralisation and a lack of external accounability.
When you’re in the eye of a perfect storm like a GFC and the way you’ve run things has isolated you from external support it’s very hard to have perspective and do everything perfectly right. Mistakes get made and people get hurt as a result, which is really tragic.
Although the words “I’m sorry” aren’t there (perhaps unfortunately for legal reasons John can’t publicly say sorry?), only time and actions will tell if the real lessons of character and competence have been learnt from the experience.
Most entrepreneurs fail several times – some significantly – before they experience lasting success. Unfortunately good people (often employees) suffer as a result.
I’ve experienced an unethical entrepreneur as an employee and the impact it had on my personal life was significant (they eventually went to jail as a result).
In the cut throat world of marketing & advertising, image can be everything and superficiality and judgements can easily rule the roost.
My hopes are that
1. The reborn one centre can be truly humble – which means having an accurate self perception which leads to confidence, not arrogance.
2. That the practice can be re-built with a sustainable profit model.
3. That the relationships that were damaged and people who were hurt either personally or financially (or both) can somehow re-engage with John so those issues can be healthily addressed so John and the one centre can be trusted again in the industry;
4. That great work can be delivered in a sustainable way that inspires everyone in the sector to rise to another level in their own respective spaces
High hopes? Yes – but if John is genuine and the letter of the law allows it, I believe that if they can get the IP back from the administrators then anything’s possible.
Will watch with interest.
N
I don’t think blogs #18 and #19 get it.
Many of the comments above are from the very business owners they claim [particularly #18] we should try and be to better understand John Ford’s circumstances.
So, trust me, we understand. Just as John Ford knows we understand.
As for #19’s hope that TOC will come back a more ‘Humble’ business – well, in the words of Warren Brown’s great AFL campaign, ‘I’d Like To See That!’
FYI #18.
he drove a Porsché home the evening the creditors came in.
You should also read a copy of the liquidators report.
21 is right.
That liquidator’s report should be compulsory reading for anyone thinking about running their own agency.
It’s pretty much a how-not-to guide to kitting out and running an SME.
If you read the liquidators report it actually says The One Centre entered into an arrangement with Nakheel and agreed to settle for 50% payment of their outstanding invoices. That agreement was reached on or before 27 May, 2009.
It doesn’t look like former staff will be getting any of that cash anytime soon!
I’m casting my mind back – was John Ford ever at DDB? I remember a cute young guy who looked like him who I think was called John Ford.
As someone who was hired when things were clearly heading south, and having an opportunity see the liquidator’s report sent to both employees and suppliers, it was blindingly obvious that while frivolous spending on the $1m office fit out, paying rent on two buildings plus an unused waterfront apartment (This was all on top of under utelised top heavy full-time resources), things were not going to end well.
(Edited by Mumbrella for legal reasons)
Big dreams for a non-retainer based business model.
Tim, why edit the fact he was still self promoting even though he couldn’t pay suppliers?