LONDON – Sarah Golding has been appointed as sole chief executive officer of CHI&Partners – with former joint chief executive Nick Howarth moving into a management role within parent company The&Partnership, as well as leading its new ‘&Toyota’ network.
Golding has led CHI&Partners through a series of changes this year, including the implementation of a new creative process in April, the launch of a diversity-focused new recruitment scheme, SPARK, in October – and most recently the appointment of two Joint ECDs, Micky Tudor and Yan Elliott, marking the beginning of a new era of leadership for the agency.
Golding said: “I’m proud and excited to take CHI&Partners forward into a new chapter in its development, one which is already in full swing following an exhilarating year of change. CHI has a new kind of spring in its step, and this is just the beginning. 2017 looks very bright indeed.”
CHI&Partners was the UK’s most-awarded independent creative agency at this year’s Cannes Lions, and was recently named Digital Agency of the Year at the Campaign BIG Awards following the success of campaigns such as its Gold-Cyber-Lion-winning Lexus Hoverboard Project in 2015. Golding herself was last week named the IPA’s 2017 President-Elect, an appointment which will be ratified in March next year, before she outlines her two-year manifesto for the industry in May.
Johnny Hornby, founder of The&Partnership and co-founder of CHI&Partners, said: “Sarah is one of London’s best advertising talents, with an incredible track record for client retention and a brilliant business mind. I’m delighted to appoint her as sole chief executive of CHI&Partners, and look forward to seeing CHI&Partners grow from strength to strength as she brings to life her vision for the agency’s future.
“Similarly, as The&Partnership continues to grow, no one could be better placed than Nick to help us move forward, leading &Toyota across Europe and helping all our agencies work together to create the best cross-disciplined work and generate the smartest results for our clients.”
CHI&Partners’ year of change began in April this year when it revolutionised its creative process, splitting up creative teams for the first time in its 15-year history in order to embrace a more collaborative, channel-agnostic way of working.
The agency has since created much-talked-about work including ‘This Stuff Matters’, the new brand campaign for TalkTalk; ‘Do Your Own Thing’, the gritty documentary-style launch series for Carphone Warehouse’s new mobile network iD; and ‘Parallel Lives’, a Lion-winning 40th anniversary campaign for The Prince’s Trust; as well as moving Argos’ brand strategy forward with a new focus on the market-leading speed of its in-store collection and delivery service.
CHI&Partners also won the News UK business back earlier this year – going on to create its first Sunday Times ‘Rich List’ campaign since 2012, as well as a Silver Lion-winning joint brand campaign for The Times and The Sunday Times – before launching Pulse, the new-model, multi-disciplined on-site agency for News UK, in May. The agency has most recently picked up the global McVitie’s and Godiva accounts after parent company The&Partnership landed the pan-European creative, content, digital and media buying business with Toyota last month.
CHI&Partners has also welcomed nine award-winning new creatives through its doors this year, including Ogilvy & Mather’s Laura Rogers and BBH’s Toby Brewer as Creative Directors, Leo Burnett’s Marc Donaldson as Head of Art – and most recently Yan Elliott as joint ECD alongside former deputy ECD Micky Tudor.
