Our Story

Holmes is where the heart is.

1969, and in a small, rented studio near Bournemouth, ex-agency studio manager Clive Holmes secures his first client – and CHS is born.

From photographing room sets to catalogue design, the company quickly expands. More high-profile clients follow, including Parker Pens, Barclaycard and Lakeland.

By 1987, CHS is a full-service agency going beyond expectation for its clients – and reaping the rewards. The agency philosophy soon becomes embedded in its culture.

See Reel

Our Timeline.

1969

Clive Holmes Studios (CHS) open its doors for business, designing and photographing room sets for specialist wallpaper manufacturers Sanderson, and Crown.
1982

The company moves into more specialist design and photography work for Holiday Club International and Dreamland Electric Blankets.
1987

Having outgrown the previous building, we buy a dilapidated Victorian house in Christchurch and perform a complete makeover. CHS is now a full-service agency.
1992

Steve Keats joins the company as an Account Executive.
1998

We win the Lakeland homeware business, a partnership which has grown and developed over the past 26 years, and continues to this day.
2011

We secure separate video and photographic studio premises nearby, on the former airfield of RAF Christchurch. Steve Keats takes over the role of Managing Director.
2015

Agency founder and linchpin Clive Holmes sadly passes away, but his legacy is an agency going from strength to strength.
2020

CHS moves to its current, and very happy home on the island - with swans, herons and the occasional kingfisher for company.
2020

Long-serving CHS Account Director Chris Southgate is appointed Managing Director, and Steve Keats becomes Chair of the Board.
2021

The agency’s success is reflected in our growing client list, with wins such as HSBC, NFU Mutual, Whittard, LV and Allianz.
2023

CHS enters the US market with a Broadway address and a clutch of accounts, including WEX Global Commerce Platform SKUx and GDS Link financial services.
2024

Changing market conditions allow us to consolidate our photographic and video services into a new, all-purpose Contents Team.

Today

Today, CHS is a very different agency.

We’re now a diverse group of people with a wide range of skills and disciplines. From strategic planning with data analysis, to the use of cutting-edge AI tools for video and stills photography, CHS is at the forefront of a new marketing revolution.

One fundamental from our past still remains though. And that is to always go Beyond Expectation.