ABOUT US

McLaren UK was founded by Ian and Melody McLaren as a creative business services company (originally McLaren Partners) in 1987 after working together on a project to develop the British Hula Hoop Championships for their client Bendy Toys.  Their unique, trans-Atlantic blend of Ian's 30+ years of marketing, advertising and fundraising experience and Melody's research and communications background has enabled them to offer clients a wide range of creative consultancy services over the years.  McLaren UK has since evolved to encompass an eclectic blend of research and writing in the field of sustainability, music promotion and jazz photography.

ABOUT IAN

A veteran of the London advertising, marketing and sponsorship industry, Ian served as account and client services director in top agency groups such as Saatchi & Saatchi and FCB Park as well as heading up sales promotion operations for ad agencies Ted Roose & Partners and Collett Dickenson Pearce. He worked as Managing Director of HMG Sports Events & Licensing, the Saatchi sponsorship consultancy, until 1990, when he moved over into the not-for-profit sector, applying his skills as Director of Corporate Development for both the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and the Multiple Sclerosis Society. During a four-year stint in Silicon Valley he was Deputy Director of Villa Montalvo, California’s Historic Estate for the Arts, where his love of jazz led him to connect with leading figures in the San Francisco jazz world. In 1998 he created “Desert Island Jazz” for KCSM Jazz 91, the SF Bay Area’s jazz station. He went on to produce and co-present the weekly programme, featuring interviews with the world’s top jazz artists until he left the US in 2000. The programme was voted San Francisco’s Best Radio Show by SF Weekly in 2004.

ABOUT MELODY

Melody's eclectic career encompasses over 30 years of experience spanning a wide range of fields including research, writing, media relations, sales promotion, web development, social media and corporate responsibility campaigning in the US and Europe.  Since 2009 she has worked as a research and marketing/social media management Associate at the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility at Cranfield School of Management. Melody is a graduate of the California Institute of Technology (BS, 1977) and Birkbeck College, University of London (MSc, Organizational Behaviour 2007).

In the world of music, Melody also works as a volunteer promoting the work of the Global Music Foundation and as a professional jazz photographer.  Check out her Herts Jazz Collection and her All That Jazz gallery.

For client enquiries, call +44 7949 140034 or email melody.mclaren@mclarenpartners.co.uk.