Expansion and Partnership

In 1971, Mearns Publicity merged with J.D. Gill Advertising Service, the only other major advertising agency in Aberdeen. The newly formed Mearns & Gill Advertising Ltd brought together complementary strengths and clients, including Robertson's, Harpers, Cordiners, Thomson of Cults, and Jack Wilson, who would become Alan's first client.

Although press was still king, television had arrived. Grampian TV launched in the early days of commercial television, and during the first days of commercial TV, it was then necessary, according to leading Aberdeen lawyer Roy Thomson (later Lord Thomson of Fleet), to extol the virtue of TV and cry out to invest in his company STV. One client took full advantage: Mitchell's Self Drive, an Aberdeen-based company that grew to have branches throughout the Central Belt and Manchester area. The business was eventually sold to the largest car hire company in the USA.

In 1973, an association with Charles Barker in London formed Barker Mearns & Gill Public Relations Ltd., originally headed by Harry MacMillan, who would go on to hold very senior public affairs roles with BP. Dick Mutch, a former Press & Journal business editor, joined in 1985 and still provides consultancy services to this day. The PR arm gained an enviable reputation for in-depth knowledge of the oil industry both in Houston and here in the UK.

In 1978, Alan Mearns joined the company, the third generation stepping in.