Scale Digital, an independent specialist in customer acquisition, has announced two new appointments as the business continues to invest in talent to support its next phase of growth. Kien Phu joins as Finance Manager, alongside Dayna Nichols as Junior Account Manager. Phu brings more than 20 years’ experience across financial services and consultancy. In her role as Finance Manager, Phu will lead the month-end close process and deliver robust, insight-driven financial reporting to support both strategic and operational decision-making. As Junior Account Manager, Nichols will support the client services team in developing and executing affiliate marketing strategies, building and maintaining strong client relationships, and analysing KPIs to identify optimisation opportunities. The appointments follow a series of senior hires made towards the end of 2025, including the addition of Andrea Hodgson as Non-Executive Director and Louis Kerin as Sales Executive.
Rory Sutherland, President Emeritus, Ogilvy Consulting and founder of its behavioural science practice, has joined consumer influence platform Herdify as an advisor, to support the leadership team with its go-to-market strategy. Herdify helps brands understand and harness the dynamics of human behaviour to influence consumer decisions. Its platform uses data-driven insights and behavioural science to identify patterns of influence and optimise marketing strategies. Sutherland will provide ad hoc advisory support and ongoing counsel to the team.
London-based fashion SEO agency Verde Digital has appointed Chloe Steele as its new SEO Manager, strengthening the agency’s organic search offering across fashion, retail, and eCommerce brands. Steele brings over seven years of experience in SEO, App Store Optimisation (ASO), and broader digital marketing, having worked across both agency and in-house roles with startups through to global brands. Her experience spans multiple industries, including fashion, jewellery, fitness and hospitality, with a particular focus on trend-led SEO strategies, technical audits for complex eCommerce sites, international content localisation, and cross-channel organic growth across web and app. Most recently, she held the position of Assistant SEO Manager at PrettyLittleThing. In her new role at Verde Digital, Steele will support revenue growth across the agency’s client base through tailored SEO strategies, lead on client communications, and work closely with the wider team to develop and execute organic search strategies.
Integrated digital marketing and advertising agency Cheil UK has announced the appointment of Nicola Nimmo as Head of Customer Engagement, to lead a new offering, Intelligent Engagement. The new capability is designed to meet growing client demand for more connected, valuable customer engagement beyond fragmented CRM and platform-led personalisation. It brings together retail insight, content and data to drive long-term growth for brands. Nimmo is a transformational leader with more than 20 years’ experience at agencies including Iris, Publicis, MSQ/MBAstack, PSONA and 23red. In her new role, she will establish Cheil UK’s new customer engagement function, drive growth with existing and new clients, and build a team of industry-leading experts across engagement, strategy and martech, both near shore and offshore. She will report directly to Chris Camacho, CEO, Cheil UK.
Brand experience agency, Avantgarde, has announced the expansion of its leadership team with Richie Gage as Head of Live. Joining him on the senior leadership team is Alex Faulkner, Client Services lead, and Sandra Perriot, Strategy lead. Gage brings over two decades of experience to the agency, having worked across campaigns for the likes of Netflix, Airbnb, Nike, Google, Pinterest, Playstation, and Lego. In his new role, he will lead and shape AVANTGARDE’s new ‘Live’ team, reporting to Managing Director Rachel Lewandowska. Faulkner has been instrumental in winning, retaining and growing key clients within AVANTGARDE since he joined in 2023, and Perriot has been pivotal in setting the strategic direction across both new and existing clients and AVANTGARDE’s trends events series, Voices.
Coegi, a leading digital media agency owned by True Independent Holdings (TIH), has announced the appointment of Chris Kotyck as Executive Vice President of Digital Operations. Based in Canada, Kotyck will oversee programmatic and social operations for Coegi, working closely with clients including TJX Companies, Moderna, and others. In this newly structured role, Kotyck will report to Tessa Ohlendorf, President, North America, and will be instrumental in scaling Coegi’s operations across both the United States and Canada while expanding its partnerships as a managed service provider to other agencies and direct clients.
The IPA has announced the appointment of former St Luke’s Managing Director Ed Palmer as Director of Agency Value. His appointment comes at a critical time, as agencies face growing pressure to articulate their value, evolve commercial models and build stronger, more effective client relationships. Palmer succeeds Joyce Kelso in the role, following her retirement. Starting on 2 February, Palmer will lead the organisation’s Commercial Pillar. In his role, he will bring together senior leaders from IPA member agencies to shape best practice across commercial leadership, new business, client relationships, finance and sustainability. He will ensure that the work is practical, innovative and aligned with the IPA’s broader mission to support agencies.
Shaunagh Brown, the former Red Rose rugby player, has been appointed by Crowd Network (Crowd) as Brand Partnerships Consultant. Brown joins Crowd as a consultant after already working with the network as a presenter on one of its most successful shows, For The Love Of Rugby (FTLOR), covering the Women’s Six Nations and Women’s World Cup in 2025. As Crowd’s Brand Partnerships Consultant, Brown will help shape and deliver commercial brand partnerships across its growing network of shows. She will work closely with talent and producers to identify partners that align authentically with Crowd’s content, with a particular focus on Long Story Short, hosted by ex-Lionesses Jill Scott and Karen Carney.
Visualsoft has expanded its Shopify leadership and delivery teams with a series of senior specialist hires, as it doubles down on helping retailers connect online and in-store commerce through a single, joined-up platform. The appointments span strategy, innovation, engineering, product and delivery, reflecting growing demand from retailers for deeper Shopify expertise and more sophisticated, cross-channel commerce models. The latest Shopify specialist hires are: Leigh Mardon as Strategy Director; Liam Quinn as Director of Innovation; Lewis McLeod as Shopify Technical Lead; Georgios Tsourapis as Senior Shopify Developer; Chloe Elvin as Senior Project Manager; and Kat Owen as Product Owner
Independent creative agency Neverland has expanded its creative leadership team with the hiring of Creative Director duo: Poppy Donaldson and Lauren Ellis. The pair will report into the agency’s CCO, Jon Forsyth and sit alongside Lloyd Daniel, who was promoted to Creative Director at the beginning of 2025. Donaldson and Ellis join the agency to lead its creative partnerships with Rightmove, Center Parcs and Sharps, along with other clients. The duo will work closely with Creative Director Lloyd Daniel to support the training and development of Neverland’s creative team as well as partnering with Pink Neon to bring the two agencies’ capabilities together for Neverland’s clients.
