British Arrows at 50: Cutting to the craft

The new co-chairs of the British Arrows’ Board of Directors, Dom Thomas and Charlie Gatsky-Sinclair, talk to Tim Cumming about their plans for the future of the Arrows as it marks five decades celebrating craft and creativity.

Last month, at Outernet, the immersive exhibition space near London’s Tottenham Court Road, the British Arrows launched an exhibition of 68 of the best British TV ads from the past half century.

Beginning with the evergreen Finishing School starring Penelope Keith and a Parker pen, taking in Cadbury gorillas, Guinness surfers, John Lewis Christmases and bringing us bang up to date with Channel 4 idents and some brilliant Bodyform work minus the “whooooaaaa”, it was a hugely entertaining reel, a testament to the enduring creative nous and chutzpah that British advertising brings to the world. 

A testament too, to the organisation that has championed the advertising world’s impish, unruly, unbridled spirits of invention. The British Arrows will host a 50th Anniversary Awards night at the Grosvenor House hotel tomorrow [Thursday March 26th] – complete with a 1970s-style Glam Bar – and current chair, Simon Cooper, Managing Director of Academy, will relinquish his seat to co-chairs, Dom Thomas, Co-Founder at Object & Animal, and Charlie Gatsky-Sinclair, President of Brand & Entertainment and EP at Uncommon.

While Cooper eased the British Arrows out of the Covid years and helped to establish the impact of the Young Arrows, Thomas and Gatsky-Sinclair take on their roles at a time of disruption and change in the industry. “Dom and I feel this is a time that requires a holistic approach to a lot of the issues we’re looking at,” says Gatsky-Sinclair. “Inclusivity, sustainability, technological change and structural changes within the industry… it’s a time when everything is up for grabs.” 

As co-chair, Gatsky-Sinclair brings to the role her experiences as a client, account manager and agency producer at the likes of Mother, Fallon, then BBH, before landing at Uncommon following a stint in the music industry. “I represent the business, the strategic understanding of where the business and production meet from an agency perspective,” she says. 

As for Thomas, “I was the work experience kid at Academy in the early 2000s, under Lizie Gower, a former head of the Arrows.” Back then, film was still king. YouTube, social media and mobile-first were only just beginning to shape and change the industry. “I was there for 16 years before starting Object & Animal,” he adds, “which exists to shine light on new talent and shape culture through filmmaking. So, my background is production and the craft that goes with that, and having insight into the business side of things as an indie company owner.” 

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