Moray MacLennan is retiring as the global CEO of M&C Saatchi, the agency he helped found
He will step down September 30.
The board of directors will conduct a comprehensive executive search process to identify a new chief executive.
Justin Graham, Group CEO, M&C Saatchi Group AUNZ, and global head of advertising network, says he's enjoyed his time working with Moray MacLennan.
"He has provided excellent leadership to the group since assuming the CEO role in 2010. I personally and professionally wish him the very best," says Graham.
"We have an excellent leadership team in place, and with the appointment of Zillah Byng-Thorne as non-executive chair and interim executive chair, I have no doubt that the business will continue to thrive as we transition to a new global CEO.
"The changes have no impact on the Australian and New Zealand operations of M&C Saatchi Group."
Moray MacLennan started in 1983 at Saatchi & Saatchi and went to M&C when the Saatchi brothers broke away from the original agency.
Zillah Byng-Thorne thanked thank Moray for his contribution to M&C Saatchi, from the founding of the company in 1995 through to his current role.
"His leadership has seen the company not just stabilise but deliver record profits and establish strong foundations for future growth," says Byng-Thorne.
Moray MacLenna says it's been a rare privilege to work for three decades with people he respects and likes, creating work that has had an extraordinary impact on the world.
"M&C Saatchi is well set for the future and now is the right time to make way for fresh energy and ideas," he says.
"Thanks to all past and present, and to those in the future who I know will keep the M&C Saatchi flame burning bright.”
M&C Saatchi in April released record profit results for the year to December 2022. Revenue jumped 17% to £462.5 million and billings were up 12% to £597.5 million.
In a trading update in June, M&C Saatchi said it expected a small fall in full year net revenue, the result of a “more challenging” advertising market.
The company planned a global cost cutting program.
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