ISBA has announced that Tracey Kitt will be joining as the new Director of Origin, the UK cross-media measurement programme. Kitt has excellent experience as the former Chief Operating Officer of YouView, the award-winning connected TV joint venture. Throughout her nearly nine years at YouView, Kitt transformed the operating model to enable the business to become more flexible, efficient, and commercially focused as it scaled to support over three million homes.
Nina Gregory is joining Clubhouse as the Head of News and Media Publishers. Gregory joins Clubhouse from NPR where she spent fifteen years rising to the role of Senior Editor on the Arts Desk. In her new role at Clubhouse, she will be working with established media brands on engaging with the Clubhouse community. She will also be working closely with press and publishers to enable them to leverage the global reach of Clubhouse to help address a number of issues including news deserts, enhancing audio training opportunities at J-schools, and finding local on the ground sources. Gregory will also work with the news clubs on Clubhouse on connecting with journalists, outlets and experts.
Independent creative agency, AML Group, has promoted Hugo Bone to the role of Executive Creative Director. Bone joined the agency in April as Creative Director from The Gate and has worked across AML’s broad portfolio of international clients including Vanguard; BNP Paribas and the UK Government.
A major milestone in the development of the UK’s tech economy has been reached with the appointment of the National Robotarium’s first CEO. The National Robotarium will catalyse innovation and talent development in Robotics and AI. Stewart Miller is well suited to lead this initiative, a distinguished business leader with a wealth of experience in technology development in the aerospace sector. As CEO he will build the National Robotarium into a globally recognised centre of excellence for AI and Robotics, working directly with businesses to accelerate innovation and drive value from world-class research, create talent of the future through a flexible skills programme and support entrepreneurs capable of creating exciting new businesses to fuel our economy. Miller takes up his position having been chief technology officer of the UK Government’s innovation agency, Innovate UK. Originally from Glasgow but now living in East Lothian, he previously worked in senior roles at major firms including Leonardo and BAE Systems.
AdTonos has appointed Paul Smith as Senior VP of Sales to support the global growth of sales, with a primary focus on the UK. Smith has over 12 years of experience in the Radio Industry successfully managing multiple Commercial teams across the UK, representing some of the largest market-leading brands. Smith spent much of his career with Global becoming the youngest Commercial Director at the time, managing some of the biggest relationships across the group. Smith progressed by joining the Senior leadership team in NewsUKs Wireless group before finally integrating the stations into the Bauer portfolio, following the business acquisition Smith joins us as our SVP managing our Global AD Sales teams reporting to the Board of Directors.
Exasol, the high-performance analytics database, has announced that Donald Kaye will join the leadership team as Chief Commercial Officer from 15 October 2021. In his role as CCO, Kaye will be responsible for aligning and optimizing all go-to-market operations to drive Exasol’s global growth strategy. Kaye will be based out of the UK. With over two decades of international experience in the software industry, including leadership roles in the USA with Microsoft and Apple, Kaye joins Exasol from Ground Labs, a market-leading provider in sensitive data discovery.
Trainline, the independent rail and coach platform, has appointed Facebook’s Mike Hyde as Chief Data Officer. Joining in early October, Hyde will be responsible for Trainline’s data teams and leading a cutting-edge data-led innovation strategy. Hyde joins from Workplace by Facebook where he held the role of Data Science Director. With over 20 years of experience in leading data teams and organisations, Hyde spent the last four years at Facebook, where he headed up the data science and engineering teams for Workplace. Prior to this, he was at Microsoft and led data and insights at Skype, delivering rich insights to every level of the organisation to create a data-focussed culture.
Veteran retail CEO John Browett is joining home setup service Just Move In as chairman. Browett was dubbed ‘king of the high street’ due to his four-time chief executive roles at major UK businesses including Tesco.com, Dixons Retail, Monsoon-Accessorize, and Dunelm Group. He has extensive experience in transforming and strengthening some of the UK’s most popular retailers. He played a key role in transforming Tesco’s operating model, and launched its online operation, Tesco.com, acting as CEO from 1999 to 2004. As Group CEO of Dixons Retail, he led their five-year transformation strategy and oversaw the successful formation of Currys PC World. Browett’s expertise will help Just Move In to grow its customer base and move into new markets beyond the home move itself.
Cervest, the creator of the world’s first AI-powered Climate Intelligence platform, has tapped Lila Tretikov to lead its Board of Directors. An award-winning senior technology executive, engineer, and former CEO, Tretikov will share her expertise in scaling companies for rapid growth to assist Cervest in bringing its Climate Intelligence (CI) platform and EarthScanTM product to market. She currently serves as corporate vice president and deputy chief technology officer at Microsoft. Before joining Microsoft, Tretikov was SVP of Engie SA, a multinational energy company, and CEO and Vice Chairman of Terrawatt, a subsidiary focused on altering the Earth’s ecology through an energy transition to CO2-negative systems. In addition, she served as CEO and Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikipedia Endowment, the organization that manages Wikipedia.
Ogilvy is pleased to announce that Ben Messiaen has been named Chief Client Officer for EMEA. From Belgium, Messiaen started at Ogilvy Brussels and then Ogilvy Paris where he has worked for the last 15 years. Initially on IBM Europe; and, more recently, as a major player in the ‘Ogilvy WPP All-Stars Team’ on Mondelez. Also a key part of the Ogilvy Paris management team as its Chief Growth Officer, Messiaen brings with him an optimistic and collaborative approach to everything he does. His breadth of experience across a range of clients from B2B, Corporate and CPG; his deep knowledge of and connections across the Ogilvy network; and his role in successfully deploying an innovative new agency model for Mondelez make him ideally suited to the EMEA role. Messiaen will report to O’Donnell and John Dunleavy, Global Chief Client Officer. He will remain based in Paris and will continue to serve on the Mondelez account team and as a member of the Ogilvy Paris management team.
CyrusOne Inc., a premier global data centre REIT, has announced that Rachel Heslehurst has been appointed as Senior Corporate Counsel – EMEA, reporting to Robert M. Jackson, EVP and General Counsel. In her role, she will sit on the European management team and support European corporate strategic initiatives including real estate acquisitions, dispositions, and development. Heslehurst is strongly positioned to support CyrusOne’s growth in Europe with over 18 years of experience in legal practice, including international M&A and corporate governance, and having spent the last eight years in-house advising large international property portfolios around risk anticipation and management and growth opportunities.
Balderton Capital has announced that Dave Kellogg, renowned software executive, advisor, independent director, angel investor and blogger, is joining the firm as the first Executive in Residence to support the team with sourcing and B2B deals and to advise Balderton’s portfolio CEOs and founders on areas including SaaS metrics, strategy, marketing and US expansion. Kellogg brings more than a decade’s experience at each of the CEO, CMO, and independent director levels across some of the world’s leading SaaS and enterprise software firms. He was previously CEO of cloud financial planning company Host Analytics (now Planful), as well as SVP/GM of Salesforce.com’s Service Cloud business, CEO of MarkLogic and led marketing for nine years at business intelligence leader, Business Objects, working with Balderton’s Managing Partner, Bernard Liautaud.
Kantar, the global evidence-based insight and consulting company, is expanding its diversity and inclusion offer for clients with the appointment of Nadach Musungu as client director. Musungu will work with clients to develop and implement strategies to make their workforces more representative, supporting creativity and diverse thinking. Musungu joins Kantar from Boden, where she was the chair of diversity and inclusion. Her previous experience includes roles at online market research community, MindMover, and a position as the diversity and inclusion lead at Lewisham Council.
Distributed is delighted to announce that, following its £5m Series A funding in May and its accelerating explosive growth, it has appointed Roger Taylor as its first Chair of the Board to sit alongside its institutional investors, Guinness Asset Management, Fuel Ventures and Capita Scaling Partners. Board level operator, Roger Taylor, joins Distributed with 15 years of experience in helping technology and service orientated businesses scale up within rapid-change UK and international markets, from the differing perspectives of CEO and separately Chair.
Iterable has announced that Stephanie Buscemi, CMO of Confluent and former CMO of Salesforce, has joined the company’s board of directors. Buscemi has over 25 years of leadership and marketing experience. Most recently she joined Confluent in March 2021 to help lead and scale Confluent through its next phase of growth, including its successful initial public offering (IPO) in June 2021. She joined Confluent after serving as CMO of Salesforce, where she led a global team of 1,700 marketers working at the intersection of product vision, a dynamic market, and a well-known sales organization. Before her role as CMO, Buscemi served as the EVP of product marketing at Salesforce. Buscemi joined Salesforce from SAP where she served as SVP of marketing after her roles as CMO and SVP at IHS Inc.
Creative agency ELVIS has boosted its strategy team with the appointment of Jed Price to the newly created role of Senior Strategist. Price joins ELVIS from digital agency Amigo Partnership, where he was Senior Strategist, working with a variety of clients across sport, finance, hospitality and B2B. As part of the role, Price oversaw the development of a completely new brand framework for sports media brand Livescore. Prior to joining Amigo Partnership in 2020, Price held strategy roles at agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA, Ogilvy and HeyHuman. In his new position at ELVIS, Price will play an instrumental role at the agency, helping to drive growth from existing clients and through new business. He will lead strategy for pillar client PepsiCo, tasked with identifying and maximising growth opportunities.
Brand design agency Bulletproof has made a new hire, Grace Dawson, who joins as Global Head of Brand following her role as Director of Brand at Jones Knowles Ritchie. She began her career at JKR in London, leading the accounts of some of the world’s most famous brands including M&M’s, Snickers and Twix. When New York City beckoned in 2015, she left the candy behind and moved to support the growing JKR New York studio.
James Crawford, managing director of Manchester-based PR Agency One has been appointed by the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) as a Fellow. He is the only person from the North West to be included in the new cohort. As part of this new role, James Crawford will help to shape thinking on the future of the PR industry. Crawford set up his award-winning PR, digital and reputation consultancy in 2011. Ten years on, PR Agency One is recognised as an outstanding consumer and B2B PR consultancy, which has a reputation for innovation and delivering measurable PR excellence.
Lucky Generals has added to its leadership team with two senior hires, each designed to fill a new role at the agency. Paul Mallon joins from Paddy Power, where he is currently Head of Brand Marketing, as the agency’s first Head of Special Ops while Chloe Davies joins as the agency’s first Head of Social Impact. Mallon’s role will be a new function in the agency blending PR, social, content and guerrilla marketing. This reflects Mallon’s unusual career path, first as a journalist at the Irish Daily Star and then for 10 years at Paddy Power, where his other roles included Head of Mischief and Head of Brand Engagement. At the same time, Chloe Davies joins as the agency’s first Head of Social Impact. This is another new function, which aims to take a more holistic approach to social responsibility, including sustainability as well as Diversity, Equality and Inclusion. Davies has a long track record in this field and is currently shortlisted for the National Diversity Awards, as a Positive Role Model (LGBT). Most recently, she was Head of Training & Engagement (Public & Community) for Mygwork – the global recruitment and networking hub for LGBT+ students, graduates and professionals.
