TWO surfers who set up a branding agency from scratch are now working with the Gloucestershire Chamber of Commerce to improve its brand identity.

Friends Richard Edgerton and Pat Dyer, who met at art college in Falmouth, moved to the town to start up agency Sperm Creative.

After helping launch the first British Ferrari store and going on to attract clients including Harrison Clark and Severn Glocon, it has recently won work to rebrand the chamber.

The friends started out with no clients in 2007 – with Pat sleeping in the upstairs office.

But the agency has gone from strength to strength in the past four years – doubling its turnover year-on-year to £190,000 in 2011.

The team now includes six staff, with four in full-time positions.

Sperm Creative was behind the design for the launch event of the first British Ferrari store in Regent Street in 2008.

The winning design they pitched included the words Regent Street with a recurring ‘r’ on a red background and the words ‘Ferrari Store’ in Ferrari brand colours in the top right.

Richard said the £250,000 event was one to remember.

“It was a fantastic launch,” he said. “They closed off the whole street and had models from the 1950s onwards.”

The duo pitched against other companies before winning the contract.

Sperm has now struck an ongoing partnership with the chamber, with the aim of giving it a more modern image. Designs include brightly coloured triangular steps with the words ‘Together we can take bigger steps’.

“It is about identity branding,” said Richard. “Getting the look and feel of their brand and then bringing it to life.”

Sperm has won a collection of national awards, including a commendation at the Design Week Benchmarks Awards last year and in two categories at the Marketing Industry Network (MIN) Awards in 2009.

Richard added: “Although we are a small business we are expanding aggressively. We want to grow organically. We don’t want to just get bigger and bigger and bigger but want to grow in line with our work.”

Pat explained the company’s brand mark is a sperm entering an egg and creating a new life. It signifies its hope to inject new life into its clients’ brands. The name also serves to grab attention and was picked for search engine optimisation.

Sperm also developed Cheltenham law firm Harrison Clark’s new brand identity.

It features a dalmatian set on a black background and white text above it with the words “101 reasons to use Harrison Clark”.

The duo moved to Cheltenham to be based between Cornwall and London. They said despite the presence of many marketing agencies in the town, the majority varied significantly and they could therefore fill a gap in the market.

The pair, who have clients across the UK, now plan to focus more on local businesses.

“There are a lot of businesses to work with here,” said Richard. “We are finding more all the time.”

To find out more about the agency visit www.spermcreative.com.