Marketing agency Big Partnership names new CEO amid expansion plans
Marketingagencybigpartnership has appointed Allan Barr to the role of chief executive, saying this will be help drive the next stage of its evolution.
The Glasgow-based firm’s chairman Malcolm Mcpherson said the chief executive role “is a significant element in Big’s plans for continued growth, driving forward a range of additional steps to strengthen our position as a forward-thinking, top-performing creative agency”.
He added that Barr – who succeeds Steve Mclaughlin as CEO – “has played a central role in the company’s success over the past decade and more and has an in-depth understanding and knowledge of all sides of the business – PR, digital, marketing and creative”. Mcpherson continued: “He is the right person to lead us on the next stage of our evolution to become one of the UK’S leading integrated marketing and communications agencies.”
Barr, the firm’s director of digital, design and marketing, joined as an account director in 2007 after senior comms roles at KPMG and PWC. He led a number of the agency’s major PR accounts and was appointed a board director in 2010. Barr has spearheaded Big’s diversification into digital, marketing and design, with direct responsibility for some of Big’s key accounts.ccc
Barr said: “I’ve now spent more than half of my career at Big and am hugely excited to take on the role of CEO. Clearly, it is a challenging time, but marketing and communications services have never been more important for organisations. The encouraging thing from my perspective is that we are already working with our clients to prepare for that recovery.”
Big has also appointed associate directors Gayle Grant and Euan Blair full board directors and promoted account director Charlene Sweeney to associate director.