Me And My Partner: 'We met over a relay baton'

Grant Campbell:

Phil's a photographer, I'm a designer. We started freelancing together about eight years ago after meeting on a job we were both working on. Then, about three years ago we decided to do it properly and set up as a design and photographic agency.

On the first day we had no clients and no work. I was sat at a desk with a laptop; Phil had plugged in the kettle on the floor because we didn't have enough tables. About mid-morning we got a phone call. It was from JP Morgan bank asking if we could do some work for them. It was a case of, yeah, I'm pretty sure we should be able to fit you in.

Phil was a musician for seven years before he became a photographer. He was quite a rocker. When I met him he was dressed in black leather with big leather boots. I was your classic indie boy, with my trendy T-shirt, fashionable trainers and combat pants. I was massively into mountain biking and Phil's got a Ducati motorbike. We just looked totally different, but we clicked immediately.

It is a little bit like that at work. I'm the design and marketing guy, so I tend to be the one that goes out and does lots of presentations. Phil's more internally and technically focused. I think it's a classic trait of photographers. Give him a camera - or in Phil's case, a camera or a guitar - and he is an incredibly outgoing individual. But take that prop away and he's actually quite quiet. Last week I was in London twice, Winchester, Sunderland, Newcastle, and back to Bournemouth. I don't think Phil moved out of the studio. He just got on with what he needed to do. And it works. You need some stability, especially in a small company. The fact that Phil is here looking after things when I'm out of the office provides that stability and is a reassuring constant, particularly for the other staff.

We both represent different ways of thinking. I'm good at the big picture, but I'm not particularly good at the detail. Phil is much better with detail. I think that maybe comes down to his photography training, which has a very technical side. If you're doing studio work, getting the detail right is vital. Phil carries that through into the broader business. He runs the payroll side, looks after staff wages and tax. I might do a big cash flow projection for the year, but it will be Phil who checks that on a daily basis.

At the end of the day, I'm the managing director. So when someone has to make a strategic decision about something, maybe about the type of pictures we're going to do or the type of clients we're going to go for, it will usually be me. But we spend a lot of time talking things over and we still work closely together on the clients, which is how we started. When I'm art directing and he's photographing, it's still great fun and we both love doing it. Those are the moments that remind us why we started this thing in the first place. He does own a couple of suits now, as well. He has to go out and see clients occasionally, so it's good to get him out of the black leather.

Phil Rowley:

If you'd seen us when we first met you wouldn't have put us together. I was working in a commercial photography studio and Grant was coming in to direct various photo shoots. We both ended up modelling for a shoot; just our hands, on a relay baton. That's how we got talking; on the relay baton; from one hand to the other.

Even then I could see that he was very professional and knew exactly what he wanted, and he seemed to like the work that I was doing. I ended up working for him at the university where he was deputy head of the marketing department. After a few years, we started doing a few freelance projects together outside work, which went really well. Turning it into a proper business appealed to us both. I'd never really thought about it before. Grant was the catalyst for that. We spent a year or so talking about it and then we thought we should do something about it, rather than just talking.

It was very different to being freelance; a lot more responsibility and a lot more challenging creatively. I wasn't risking anything, though. At the time I didn't have a mortgage and I was single. It was a bigger step for Grant as he had a house and a family to consider.

It was quite an adjustment at first. I didn't really have any corporate experience and not much idea of how business worked. Grant was a lot more commercially savvy. He'd run a department at the university so he was more familiar with managing people and how to organise things.

In terms of responsibilities, we discussed who should do what at the outset. Fortunately, there haven't been any clashes, with us both wanting to take on the same roles. Grant is a good talker and quite outgoing so it was natural for him to be the public face of the company. I'm more of a backroom boy, keeping things ticking over behind the scenes. I've always been quite happy doing that and still am.

Before we started the business we did this personality test with each other. We wrote down what we though were each other's strengths and weaknesses and what we thought our own were. Then we discussed what we'd written and what it meant for the business and the way we worked. Because of that, I don't think there have been too many surprises on either side. The main surprise for me is just how good Grant is at managing the business; dealing with clients and doing presentations.

We've spent a lot of time together over the years, particularly in the last three since we started the business, but we've never had a fall out. We'll discuss things between us and come to a decision together, or it will be blatantly clear what the decision has to be and we won't need to discuss it.

We used to see each other more socially than now. There just isn't as much time any more and we've both got other commitments. It is a shame, but after eight years, I don't think there's much we don't already know about each other.

Interviews by Gareth Chadwick