Growing Pains: The Brothers Who Built a Media Empire from a Basement Office

In our mission to match businesses to offices, we meet some of London’s most exciting startups. In this series, Growing Pains, we interview the founders and CEOs of businesses that are starting out or scaling up.

In this edition, we caught up with the leaders of C-Screens, the outdoor TV network designed to put the right adverts in the right places. After we helped the C-Screens team find their new office in Old Street – complete with a roof terrace and plenty of natural light – we caught up with the company’s directors, brothers Richard and Robert Hicks.

Could you explain the C-Screens journey so far?

Rob: It was while we (my brother and I) were working for the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, ITV, where we had been for most of our adult lives. We came to the realisation that TV consumers were increasingly wanting control over what they watched. They wanted to choose when they watched and how they watched, and they wanted the ability to skip TV advertising.

Whilst this compliance to consumers’ needs was welcome, it has forever changed the TV advertising landscape. The challenge for advertisers was finding a way to reach TV viewers engaged in the content, but without giving them the ability to skip through the ads.

This was where we spotted a gap in the market and our dream was realised: create the UK’s largest outdoor TV company. By implementing digital screens and delivering the right premium TV content at the right time in the right location, we would not only be able to help landowners entertain their customers, but also give TV advertisers back their audience.

Rich: I know it sounds like a typical media cliché, but we started out in a small basement office in Soho with no windows, brokering existing landowner screens and showing health content in pharmacies. We are now the UK’s largest-reaching outdoor TV company, owning and operating over 10k+ screens, across 3k sites and delivering 250 TV channels with relevant content and advertising nationwide.

We’ve also taken the model internationally, with various screen networks in Ibiza and Spain. The next step is investing in our own TV delivery system, which will allow us to take the medium even further programmatically. That will allow advertisers to buy and place their adverts in real time and optimise to the highest performing sites for the best ROI.

Describe your roles within C-Screens

Rich: My role as COO is to make sure our local and global company vision is delivered in the most effective and commercially viable way, working with all departments of the business: overseeing internal and external operations, product development, departmental strategies, programmatic and emerging markets, Ad Ops, content licensing, innovation, marketing and board director leadership.

Rob: As CEO, my role is to help with creating the strategic direction, to drive the brand vision and with my brother’s help, coordinate our excellent staff in executing and delivering a great outdoor TV company.

Above: Richard and Robert Hicks

What has been your biggest challenge to date?

Rich: Not killing each other! In being brothers, conversations tend to be more open, passionate, and direct, which has its challenges, but ultimately allows us to find a resolution quickly.

Besides that, we had to learn a lot about governing and commercial law, not to mention public liability and insurance. Moving from ‘heads of terms’ with our landowners to full on 3-5 year commitment deals with the incorporated learning of all of the above.

What has been your biggest success?

Rob: Surviving for nine years! No, seriously, there are two things we see as our biggest successes. The first is not only surviving through Covid but outperforming our targets. This justified our standing as a Covid-proof business and helped with our investment to take us to the next level.

The other is our Summer of Sport product. Owning and operating our large outdoor screens allows us to put on iconic summer events, showing great content – from Wimbledon through to the football World Cup. We have bookings for the following year before the season is over, marking it as a sign of success!

What advice would you give to other leaders?

Rich: Be patient and stick to your goals. It’s easy to try and do too much too quickly and go for the dangling carrot. Invest in your staff, persuade people to join your vision and journey and support them with not just financial compensation, but with personal and professional growth. And from a practical standpoint, be hot on numbers and accountancy from the start.

Something else I think is incredibly important is to take the time to congratulate yourself on your achievements. Robert and I still find it hard to appreciate where we have got to, without focussing too much on where we need to be. Try and enjoy the journey as much as you can. Remember, it’s not all life and death, there is always another option/solution. Health always trumps wealth; what’s the point if, by the time you make it, your ill-health prevents you from appreciating it.

Rob: I echo what my brother has just said, but I think after hearing and agreeing with him there is one word that keeps being mentioned – ’time’. It’s the one commodity that nobody can buy, so use your time wisely. And learn how to be dispassionate about decision making. The ability to be truly objective is better for the business. 

If you could go for dinner with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?

Rich: Brian Cox, Stephen Fry or Jordan Belfort.

Rob: Jesus or the Queen.

What book has changed you the most?

Rich: The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho.

Rob: The Road Less Travelled, by Dr. M Scott Peck. You can take or leave the religion part in the middle, but if you can learn what makes other people tick, it will only help you get the best out of them.