In 1999, when you left BDH, I bet you that you’d go back into advertising. Why has it taken you so long to accept that I was right?

I've been busy working on my own brand. It's been fun. It's also been hard work. But you know how time flies when you're enjoying yourself...

How involved are you going to be on a day-to-day basis? The head of one agency described you and Martin’s (Anderson, former chairman of BDH/TBWA) arrival as The Raft scraping around for new business and hoping that a few has-beens might dredge some up for them...

I'm flattered that anyone can even remember me. But I'll be working as hard as I need to to make a real difference. I can either advise as a non-exec or get stuck in.

Guess which one's most fun? And guess what I've missed most: the board meetings or the creative work? I'd prefer to be judged by the results. The client's results.

On the subject of creativity, you've got some heavyweight suits on board now compared to the size of your creative team. How you going to pay all your salaries and how are you going to redress the balance?

Last time I looked Martin was a creative. I helped find Phil Howells, the creative director. And our challenge is to build the resource needed as we grow.

So, we'll be recruiting suits and planners as well as creatives. But let's face it, we're in a creative industry. That's why clients go to agencies. And I guess we're reasonably well-connected when it comes to helping attract talent.

Roger Ward (and son Billy...the kid)

It's been fun. You can look at work critically, like your mates outside the industry do. But it's clear that things have changed really dramatically.

The biggest difference? We record TV programmes digitally and watch them when we want... and I've never yet failed to skip through the ad breaks. That certainly cuts down on the number of people chatting about a great new ad they've just seen.

How about changes in the Manchester industry in particular?

Well, everyone tells me that things are very different. There are some new agencies at last. JWT have thrived under new management. McCanns rumble on and BDH... Oh yeah, BDH doesn't exist any more.

What's your take on the changes to BDH and its morph into TBWA\Manchester?

I'm not qualified to talk about changes at BDH. Nor should I - in that I left ages ago.

I always found TBWA to be very good corporate parents. And I'm told that the new team are nice people. But I don't know them.

What I can say is that it's a real shame that the BDH brand no longer exists. We certainly had something very, very special there a while back...

Special in what way? Is it fair to say something has been lost then?

It's for other people to say whether they think something has been lost. All I can say, speaking personally, is that we built an edge-of-world-class agency in a Manchester suburb - with a unique culture and a real buzz about it.

I hope it's still the same. And my hope is that we can turn the Raft into something similar. There's no point having small ambitions.

Harwood-Matthews

I've never met him, so I'd never make any comment. I'm sure his profile is a result of him doing his job.

Uncharacteristically coy response there, Mr Ward...

Not coy. Simply honest and polite. I'm much more interested in the profile of the people I work with and helping them to become as well known as they deserve to be. The Raft represents my future. BDH and TBWA will always be an affectionately recalled part of my past.

So by the sound of it you've mellowed since the days you were labelled "Psycho Ward" by some of your colleagues...

I'm just older and wiser, Tony. And most certainly mellow.

So, in terms of the connections of the management at The Raft, it would seem likely that RHM's current client list will be your primary stomping ground. Should he be worried?

We all need to be worried, but only because of the economy. Our new business strategy needs to be a bit more creative than that. I can't see TBWA being worried about us. If we're good we'll succeed. And that might give a few people pause for thought.

Prior to you and Mr Anderson tipping up at The Raft, Driven were very much positioning themselves as “Continuity” BDH and the rightful heir to any of the Didsbury boys and girls’ disaffected clients? Is that position tenable anymore?

Pubs: Ward's other passion

You tell me…

Look, let's get one thing straight. There's no contest for the soul of BDH. The firm has many legacies. Hopefully all of them will thrive. And more importantly, hopefully all of them will continue the spirit of the place.

It strikes me that there's a lot of goodwill around for what we had. I just hope that all of us bastard offspring live up to the standards set.

I know that's what attracted me to the Raft in the first place: decent people dedicated to doing a decent job.

You know what, Tony? I've lost count of the number of old boys and girls who've come up to me and said, can we do it again? Let's find out.

You were quite good mates with the boys at Driven and they even initially set up in the back kitchen of The Raft. How’s the relationship now? Could it possibly be closer in the future?

We've got loads of mates in good businesses around the place. That's what makes the world go round. Who knows where we'll all end up?  It's fun to have friendly rivalries in the meantime, though, isn't it?

We're happy to work with anyone good who wants to work with us. That's the whole point isn't it?

So you will be co-operating with Driven rather than competing?

Of course we're competing. That's what business is: one big competition. We all fight for clients, resources, budgets, talent and everything else worth fighting over. That doesn't mean you can't be friends.

A merger would obviously strengthen both your hands...

You're getting carried away now, Tony. We've both been going for something like five minutes. And now you want us to get married. We haven't even had a kiss yet.

Let's get on with building some substance first. Let's prioritise the clients. Let's secure some scale. Then we'll see who wants to talk to us. We're open to conversations with all friendly parties, but only to improve the business.

After working almost all of your career in an agency with global affiliations do you think it is truly possible to compete with the Big Boys around town without them?

Can we compete with global businesses? Of course we can. We've done so before and will do so again. It's easy to add international reach if you need to. You've done it!

So would the plan be to develop an affiliation with an international group?

Christ, we aren't even big in Cheshire yet and you're talking about global domination/affiliation. I'm flattered. I'm also professional, so we'll secure whatever international links any client's project needs. But realistically, let's start Mao's journey of a thousand miles with a few single steps before we start going off on one...

Fellow Raft man Anderson

I never talk about money. Certainly I never said that.  And I have enough businesses that I'm supporting financially! The Raft is a going concern which makes its own money. It doesn't need bankrolling; it needs love and attention.

So you can't sub us for a few quid then?

Story of my life. You still owe me a round from the last time…

Story of my life...

Good answer.

My handy dictionary defines a "raft" as a temporary structure hastily bolted together for a short-term trip away from something or towards something...

Nice try. We're all temporary structures and we're all moving somewhere. Rafts also save lives. Much better name than the Titanic, though, don't you think?

Was that in the running?

You'd better ask Shaun Keefe and Phil Storton that! Diminishing returns this line of questioning, mate…

You and Martin are both seasoned veterans of the industry. You must have entered into this with an exit strategy in mind...

There's no pre-planned strategy and no exit. We're helping because we were asked to. We'll develop the plan as we go along.

Sometimes you just have to do things because it feels right. Because the people are right. And because you want to. I want to.

It's better to be called “seasoned” than “psychotic”, but the simple truth is this: I've got some unfinished business…

Future subjects for the How-Dozen interview include BJL’s managing director, Nicky Unsworth, Rob Brown, managing director of Staniforth PR and the eponymous David Bell, chief executive of CheethamBellJWT. If you have any questions you would like putting to them please email tonymurray37@hotmail.com. Alternatively, if you would like to volunteer or nominate someone to be the subject of a future interview please email the same address. Cheers

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