For me, creativity thrives in an ideas democracy; Empowered people working collaboratively towards a shared vision in an environment that conjures innovation, energy, entrepreneurship and magic - while shunning fear. And there’s few things that excite me more than seeing talent flourish from grass roots to succession management. This is why I invest time mentoring and coaching the next generation, and championing youth and diversity. These values are key to my leadership style that I use to help transform the creative reputation and commercial success of companies within very small timeframes.
2019 – present day. Chairperson & CCO of The Gate San Francisco, on a mission to combine the multiple MSQ forces and launch a nimble but formidable West Coast proposition. Interim CMO of Dormeo USA, a challenger sleep brand, briefed to help the team define and segment their audience, position their products, and oversee all aspects of their marketing communications. In 2020, Dormeo USA finished the year in profit for the first time in a decade and is set to grow by 300% in 2021.
2016 – 2019. CCO of The Gate London. Before joining the agency, it had experienced eight consecutive quarters of income decline, had no head-turning work and a culture on its knees. Within six months of imbedding our “Gang Laws” in the muscle of the business, we had our first awarded piece of work and won the prestigious creative and media account for The Electoral Commission. Within 18 months we overturned a £750,000 deficit and became profitable. Within 36 months we were crowned Oystercatchers Agency Of The Year, FSF Agency Of The Year and won the company’s first ever D&AD Pencil.
2012 - 2016. ECD at Leo Burnett where I was appointed to transform the credibility and reputation of their retail and activation agency, Arc, and help foster integration across the group. Between 2012 and 2016, Arc witnessed a seismic change in perception from solid activation agency, to a fully integrated multi-disciplined shop. In just four years Arc/Leo Burnett won over 70 awards including 9 DMA Golds, Effie Gold, IPA Gold, 2 Campaign Big Silvers, IPM agency of the year titles in 2014, 2015 and 2016, plus MAA agency of the year 2015. I led high profile wins for Leo Burnett from NSPCC & RNLI to The Co-op, as well as leading the global B2B account Samsung. Shortly before moving from Burnett I was ranked number 2 in David Reviews Top 25 Creatives.
2002 - 2012. Creative Partner of Billington Cartmell Group, which included the creative agency, Brave. This buzzing independent environment allowed me to experiment with the way we were structured and produced our work. Here, I pioneered a “creative ecosystem” and broke the conventions around the classic creative team, by casting units of up to five key people to kill jobs more effectively and efficiently. The results were better work, a more exciting, liberating, innovative and collaborative culture as well as greater profitability. Exceptional growth and diversity in creative offering led to us being awarded Marketing Week’s agency of the year for three consecutive years.
