Independent media agency the7stars has announced three senior promotions across its planning and activation functions, further bolstering its leadership team as the agency continues to grow. Michelle Sarpong, previously Commercial Lead, has been promoted to Head of Activation. Sarpong will lead the agency’s 150-strong Activation team and report into Managing Partners Rhys Williams and Rhiannon Murphy, following their promotion earlier this year. Caroline Tucker and Vicky Crouch-Marlow have been appointed Joint Heads of Planning, in a newly created role designed to further strengthen the agency’s strategic leadership. Tucker and Crouch-Marlow will report directly to founder Jenny Biggam. Together, they will co-lead the account planning teams—comprising 100 staff and working with more than 70 clients across £500m in billings. As part of the changes, Libby Foster has been promoted to Client Planning Partner.
Global social agency Billion Dollar Boy has appointed Thomas Walters as Group Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) as part of a strategic restructuring of its senior leadership team to support the next phase of the agency’s global growth. In this newly created role, Walters leads Billion Dollar Boy Group’s innovation strategy: identifying and implementing new technologies, strategic partnerships, and operational models that help brands scale creator marketing with greater precision, efficiency, and impact. Walters’s new remit includes exploring emerging market trends from AI tools and creator infrastructure to new monetisation models and platform developments, with a focus on converting experimentation into enterprise value and competitive advantage – both for clients and for Billion Dollar Boy itself. Walters co-founded Billion Dollar Boy in 2014 and has been instrumental to its global success.
The IPA has appointed seven brilliant individuals to a new 44 Club board to inspire a new generation of advertising practitioners. Named after the address of IPA HQ – 44 Belgrave Square – the 44 Club brought together some adland’s best and brightest for invigorating industry gatherings. Over the next 20 years, the IPA 44 Club grew to be one of the highlights of the industry calendar. After closing the 44 Club doors during lockdown, the IPA invited applications earlier this year for a new board. The new 44 Club board, which represents a variety of disciplines from across the agency landscape, will meet quarterly and will be represented on the IPA Council by the new IPA 44 Club Chair, Noel Bunting, Chief Creative Officer at Publicis London. The Board also includes: Arthur O’Neill, Worldwide Head of Invention, Mindshare; Doug Bowen, Creative, Gravity Road; Ealish Corlett, Senior Account Manager, Isle of Man Advertising & PR; Flavia Veneziano, Client Success Account Director, Kinesso; Timothy Cook, Creative Director, Ear To The Ground; and Yola Khodja, AV Executive, OMD.
VCCP has appointed Robert Valdes as Chief Production Officer of Girl&Bear. Founded in 2021 as a content creation studio for the VCCP network, Girl&Bear’s strategic expansion into the US builds upon its success to date. In this new role, Valdes will oversee the US Girl&Bear studio, as well as all production operations for VCCP in the states. A celebrated figure in the advertising industry, Valdes brings over two decades of experience leading production at some of the industry’s most awarded and ambitious agencies. His impressive portfolio includes work across categories on top global brands and numerous accolades, such as multiple Cannes Lions, a Cyber Lion, a Grand CLIO, and top honors from the ANDYs and the ADC.
Commerce provider Visualsoft has made its first move into bricks-and-mortar retail, expanding its services to include Shopify POS and strengthening its commitment to helping brands bridge the gap between online and in-store, bringing its learnings and experience of online to the physical world. The new focus on unified commerce is being led by Matthew Eley, who has been appointed as the agency’s first Retail Product Lead. With a background in digital retail and a deep understanding of how shoppers behave across different channels, Matthew is now leading Visualsoft’s work to support clients with Shopify POS – from installation and hardware to workflows and integration.
Product trial tech platform Sampl has appointed Neil Mukerji as Chief Operating and Technology Officer to scale its global operations and accelerate growth. Mukerji brings two decades of experience building high-growth businesses – most recently as COO/CTO of Kobas, acquired by Vesta Software in 2025. He also played a key role in scaling the NHS Digital 111 online service during the pandemic. At Sampl, Mukerji will lead operations and product innovation that help brands deliver smarter, ROI-driven sampling at scale. His appointment follows a year of record growth, with 1.7m samples delivered, a 75% revenue uplift, and expansion across 35 countries.
Revving, the fintech platform reshaping the financial infrastructure of adtech businesses, has appointed James Lovelace as its new Vice President of Sales. With over 20 years’ experience in the marketing and media industry, Lovelace joins Revving at a time of rapid expansion. He will lead the charge on driving growth across multiple markets in the UK and EU, developing scalable sales strategies, heading up Revving’s business development issues and supporting client acquisition. Lovelace brings extensive experience in tech scaleups, and has held senior positions at a range of high profile businesses, including Skimlinks, Ve Global and Soreto.
