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The agency behind campaigns for Barclays and the NHS is close to naming Zillah Byng-Thorne as Gareth Davis’s successor as chair, Sky News learns.
By Mark Kleinman, City editor @MarkKleinmanSky
M&C Saatchi, the London-listed advertising agency group, has lured one of Britain’s top media executives as its next chair.
Sky News has learnt that Zillah Byng-Thorne, the outgoing boss of The Week’s publisher, Future, has agreed to replace Gareth Davis.
City sources said an announcement confirming Mrs Byng-Thorne’s departure was likely to be made in the coming days.
Her recruitment is likely to be regarded as a coup by investors.
During her tenure at Future, she oversaw rapid growth in its earnings and share price, transforming it from an ‘old media’ magazine publisher into a digitally-led group.
Mrs Byng-Thorne has also agreed to take over as chairman of Trustpilot, the online reviews platform.
As part of a broader shake-up of M&C’s board, Chris Sweetland, a former WPP Group finance executive, is expected to join as a director representing Vin Murria and AdvancedAdvT, the company’s biggest shareholder.
Lisa Gordon, the agency’s senior independent director, is expected to step down from the board in the next few months.
Read more:
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The boardroom overhaul follows a turbulent period for M&C, which was last year at the centre of a bidding war involving both Ms Murria and Next Fifteen Communications, another London-listed company.
M&C handles advertising, direct marketing, public relations and sponsorship campaigns for scores of blue-chip clients, including Heineken and Barclays.
The government is also a big client of the group, which produces work for the NHS and a number of Whitehall departments.
Under the leadership of Moray MacLennan, M&C has returned to growth and recently reported record annual revenues and profits.
On Thursday, shares in M&C were trading at around 186p, giving it a market capitalisation of around £230m.
A spokesman for M&C declined to comment.
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