Havas London has promoted chief client officer James Fox to the position of CEO, following the elevation of Xavier Rees from CEO to UK group CEO of Havas Creative.
While Fox will continue to report to Rees, the pair will lead the B Corp-certified agency alongside chief creative officer Vicki Maguire, head of strategy Britt Iversen, and global chief strategy officer Mark Sinnock.
According to Havas, as chief client officer Fox has been instrumental in a series of successes for the agency, defending The Open University account, winning the DfE’s Further Education business and helping the likes of Molson Coors and Asda grow.
The new CEO joined Havas after spending seven years at Omnicom-owned agency Lucky Generals where he was appointed as its first managing director.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
“This is a special agency that continues to go from strength to strength, and I am incredibly proud to be taking on the challenge of leading it alongside Xav, Vicki, Britt and Mark,” Fox said.
“The energy that comes from our amazing people, who really do give a shit about each other, the agency, our clients and the work, is special – you only have to look at the momentum we’re building together to appreciate that. We’ve already got a tonne of exciting things in the pipeline, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in store.”
Havas Creative UK group CEO added:“Having dedicated several years to building a strong, happy, and healthy culture within Havas London, I had to be confident a new CEO would continue to invest in and prioritise that.
“In Fox, we’ve found a true modern leader: competitive yet compassionate, and someone who instinctively gets what it takes to build a thriving culture within a progressive, 21st Century agency. He has already had a huge, overwhelmingly positive impact on both our culture and performance, and I know our people will be as excited to see him step up as I am.”
