The company was formed in 1977 and its staff spawned many successful spin-offs, including The Foundry, Main Frame, Nice Biscuits and Smoke & Mirrors.

[citation needed] The company famously posted Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing"; the first video ever to be played on MTV Europe and the launch advert for the Ford Puma featuring a composited late Steve McQueen.

[citation needed] The company was the first in the UK to acquire a Rank-Cintel URSA (replaced with a Thomson Spirit) and a C-Reality Telecine as well as being the first to adopt a Discreet (now an Autodesk subsidiary) Flame SGI based compositing suite.

Rushes posted pop-promos for many well known bands including Arctic Monkeys, Dido, Faithless, Gorillaz, Ian Brown, Manic Street Preachers, New Order, Scissor Sisters, The Streets, Oasis, Placebo, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Snow Patrol.

In 2009, Rushes was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for its visual effects work on Discovery's series, Human Body: Pushing the Limits.