Dentsu Creative UK has parted company with chief creative officer, Caroline Pay and chief strategy officer, Theo Izzard-Brown, who are both set to leave the company at the end of the week.

Neither Pay nor Izzard-Brown has a job lined-up, indicating that the action taken by the Tokyo-headed firm most likely came as some surprise to both executives.

Both Pay and Izzard-Brown had only joined Dentsu Creative last year, with Pay having formerly held the same role role at meditation app Headspace and Izzard-Brown at rival agency McCann London.

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During her time at Dentsu Creative, Pay had been responsible for overseeing a team of around 100 creatives based variously across London, Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle.

According to Campaign the changes were lead by CEO Jessica Tamsedge, who took up the tole in June last year when she joined from McCann, overseeing a raft of cuts at the agency which has reduced its headcount by 36% in 2023 alone.

Until the appointment of a new chief creative officer, global client executive creative directors Tom Smith and Darren Urquhart will oversee the department in a supporting capacity. It is understood that a replacement for Izzard-Brown will not be sought.