HIS design firm began life in the attic of his grandma’s house in Paddock.

Now James Sommerville, co-founder of international design agency Attik, has landed a high-powered role with one of the biggest names in the business world.

Huddersfield-born James has been appointed vice-president of global design at Coca-Cola – one of Attik’s key clients for many years.

James launched Attik in 1986 with fellow Batley Art College student Simon Needham after gaining a £2,000 start-up grant from the Prince’s Trust.

The agency went on to work for global brands including Coca-Cola, Virgin, Adidas, Nike, Sheraton, Heineken and Manchester United and open offices in London, New York, Sydney and Los Angeles.

James led the team behind a major redesign of Coke’s brand identity in 2006 – an initiative tagged by Coke’s employees as “the revival of an icon.”

Among other projects, Attik created a brand identity for Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, having already worked on Coca-Cola’s Coke Red product and its Euro UEFA 2008 campaign.

It also worked with Coke Istanbul in Turkey to re-designed the Coca-Cola can for Ramadan. The new look featured on Coke products sold in more than a dozen countries, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Pakistan.

Attik also created the visuals for Coke’s Christmas marketing campaigns in the UK and Germany.

Commenting on the appointment, James said: “If someone had said when we started in Paddock that I’d take on this role one day I would have fainted!”

Wendy Clark, a Coca-Cola senior vice-president, said James already knew the company well, adding: “There’s no better feeling than having someone join the team who already feels so much a part of it.

“Just as he has done until now, James will create immediate impact for our brands, company and system.”

One of James’ first assignment will be to develop visuals for the company to tie in with the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Coca-Cola is proposing to close its Wakefield distribution centre with the loss of 288 jobs.

James and Simon studied for the national diploma in typography, photography and graphic composition from 1984 to 1986 at Batley School of Art.

In 1987 they received a £2,000 grant from the Prince’s Trust and joined forces to launch Attik, starting from the attic at James’ grandmother’s house at Speedwell Street, Paddock.

The agency later moved to Fitzwilliam Street before moving to Leeds after 19 years in Huddersfield.

In 2007, Attik was sold to Dentsu, a multi-million dollar advertising agency in the USA. James left the business in September last year after fulfilling his five-year commitment to the company.

He is well-known on the international design and business lecture circuit and has also served as an adviser and ambassador for the Prince’s Trust.