THE END OF AN ERA FOR BARRIE

Over the last few years, we have welcomed lots of new faces to the IGNIFI team as we entered a period of growth for the business. This week, instead of a hello, we said farewell to one of our longest standing team members, Barrie Watson. In this blog, we discuss Barrie’s time at IGNIFI and what he plans to do next.

Barrie’s time at IGNIFI

Barrie joined IGNIFI (then NB Group) as a Creative Designer back in 1998, in his own words seeing this ‘as an opportunity to join an ambitious forward-thinking design agency’. As a designer within our studio team, Barrie’s focus has been to create visually engaging graphics to promote and enhance our healthcare client’s brands.

Since joining us 25 years ago, not only has the portfolio of clients IGNIFI works with evolved, but so have design requirements. With exposure to so many varied client brands during his time with us in the health and active lifestyle arena, Barrie’s design skills have continuously developed to stay ahead of design trends. In the last few years particularly, the demand to produce more digital assets for clients has seen him working with a variety of digital formats and applications.

Barrie’s new calling

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and back in 2021, Barrie approached the senior team to ask if IGNIFI would support his transition into a new vocation as a pastor. The training for this would take 2 years on a part-time basis and then Barrie would move into the full-time role of pastor at his local church.

This was a first for IGNIFI but we were pleased to come to an agreement that worked for both parties. Barrie transitioned into working 3 days per week at IGNIFI and as part of the business transition, we recruited new members of the studio team from early 2022 to address capacity and skills that we were set to lose.

Barrie has successfully completed his training and is set to start his new vocation full time from the start of July.

“It’s been a pleasure to work at IGNIFI for all these years and I want to thank the team for being such a great bunch of people to work with. There have been so many memories and highlights along the way, and of course, lots of laughs, so I’m really going to miss the camaraderie in the studio.”

FC Bazalona

It could not go without mentioning that Barrie was known as the IGNIFI ‘fantasy football expert’. Consistently Barrie has wowed his teammates with his high scores and has won the title of IGNIFI fantasy league champion or runner-up more times than anyone else in the business . Before his departure, he did pass on some tips to the less successful fantasy league contenders to ensure the legacy of FC Bazalona lives on.

After 25 years of service, Barrie will be greatly missed by everyone at IGNIFI, but from all of his colleagues we wish him all the very best with his new vocation.

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