BPG bates has announced the appointment of Kevin Jones as strategic planning director.

Jones joins from Havas Worldwide Middle East were he has been since 2008, in a similar capacity. He will work across all the BPG | bates accounts with special focus on new business. While heading the agency’s strategic planning department, he will also sit on the agency’s leadership committee.

Strategic branding agency Brand Union has appointed Majdoleen

Till as executive business director to lead in the development of the business across the region. Till has been in the business of branding for over 15 years, of which seven were spent managing Fitch, another WPP agency, in Qatar and Kuwait. This was after her stint with Qatar Foundation. She took on her current role at Brand Union in July 2014.

Alchemy Films, a subsidiary of Linktia, has announced the appoint- ment of Luke Morrison as general manager. He joined the company in October. Morrison moved to moved to Dubai two years ago from London where he spent 13 years working in film production. He has been involved with projects like Big Brother, besides working in production finance for Warner Brothers, Sanctuary Records and Mentorn Productions. He was also involved in branded and cross-platform content in the last five years in London, for brands like Guinness, England Rugby, Adidas, Gillette, Aviva, Billabong and Quicksilver.

In a related move, the group has promoted Heather Grace

McDonald as partner and business development manager of Linktia. She moved to Dubai in 2008 and ran Alchemy Films as producer, and later general manager. Linktia’s other subsidiaries are Magnet, arabianEye, The Studio, Bareface and BuyDubai.co.