Whisper Cymru and Lens 360 announce today that they have combined their respective businesses to become Whisper Cymru with immediate effect.

Carys Owens, founder of Lens 360, is now Whisper Cymru’s Managing Director, with Jamie McIntosh as Line Producer. All Lens 360 and Whisper Cymru team members have been retained, with plans to further develop over the coming months.

The agreement brings together an exciting combination; Lens 360’s Welsh Rugby experience, branded content and strong links into Welsh sport, with Whisper Cymru’s infrastructure and International sport production experience.

The two companies have previously worked together, co-producing the Rugby World Cup for S4C, Live Women’s Rugby and Dyddiau Da Cwpan Rygbi'r Byd (World Cup Rugby Catch Up). Lens 360 staff also worked on a number of Whisper Cymru’s Nations productions, including the Women’s FA Cup (BBC), England Women’s Football Internationals (BBC) and Women’s Six Nations (BBC).

The announcement follows recent investment by Whisper Cymru in Wales; it has moved into bigger offices in Cardiff and created new edit suites with Cardiff workspace, Tramshed Tech.

Led by Carys, Whisper Cymru will also retain Lens 360’s office in Canolfan S4C Yr Egin, Camarthen, with plans to forge closer links with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, similar to those it already has with Cardiff Metropolitan University and Swansea University.

Whisper CEO, Sunil Patel:

“It’s brilliant that just two years after opening in Cardiff, we are joining forces with a Welsh company that has a such strong heritage in the nation, as well as reputation and experience. Working together with Carys and her fantastic team we plan to further develop our base in Wales. It’s a sporting heartland with great creative talent, which we are keen to support. The agreement also offers the chance to Carys and her team to work on other international projects and bring their Welsh creative excellence to a range of programming. There’s lots to look forward to.”

Whisper Managing Director, Mark Cole:

“Rugby has been a major growth area for us, with the Rugby World Cup for S4C and Women’s Six Nations for the BBC and two additional exciting new rugby announcements coming soon. We’ve been involved with Lens 360 since opening in Cardiff in November 2018. Their approach to production matches ours, ambitious and focused on telling incredible stories, so it felt like a natural step to join forces and see what’s possible.”

Whisper Cymru Managing Director, Carys Owens:

“We are extremely excited to be joining forces with Whisper. Lens 360 shares similar values in the creativity and standards it shows on every project. Our relationship has grown naturally during our work on the Rugby World Cup in 2019, through to this moment. This is an excellent opportunity for our existing clients, as well as broadcasting in Wales. We are hugely excited about our future relationship with Whisper and the opportunities it will bring.”

Gerwyn Evans of Creative Wales said

‘We welcome the launch today of the new Whisper Cymru. Combining the creative talent and experience of both Lens 360 and Whisper Cymru will enable further excellent productions to be born and made in Wales. We look forward to seeing their future growth and success as part of a vibrant creative sector in Wales’.

Lens 360’s latest project is Return to Rockfield, an official documentary on Oasis, which has had over a million views on YouTube in just two months, has been shown on Sky Italia and is due to air on MTV in February. Its clients include S4C, the Welsh Rugby Union and Channel 4, amongst others.

Whisper Cymru is the Nations office of Whisper, one of the fastest growing production companies in Europe, which produces Formula One, International Cricket, Women’s Super League and The Paralympics, amongst many other sports. Its impressive unscripted slate includes Inside Monaco, which was the highest-rated factual production on BBC Two for six years, and the critically acclaimed The Talk for Channel 4.  It has offices in London, Cardiff, Carmarthen, Maidenhead and Auckland and is a four-times Broadcast Best Places to Work.