Lord Mervyn Davies to join Chime Communications as chairman
Marketing services group Chime Communications is to appoint Mervyn Davies, Lord Davies of Abersoch, as its new chairman, taking over from Roger Hughes, who has been working as acting chairman this year.
Hughes took on the interim role in June 2012, around the same time as the agreed disposal of the Bell Pottinger Group, which led to revision in the business strategy of Chime Communications, including more of a focus upon sports marketing. He will continue to work with the business however, as senior independent director.
Lord Davies will take up the position of chairman from 6 December alongside his other roles such as vice chairman and partner at Corsair Capital and senior independent director at Diageo.
Lord Davies said: "Chime is a very interesting company with strong growth potential. I am looking forward to helping them achieve their goals. There are many international opportunities and we intend to seize them."
Rodger Hughes, acting chairman of Chime Communications, commented: "Lord Davies has an outstanding reputation as a leading businessman and a clear passion for people based businesses. He also has a wealth of international experience which will help Chime as it develops its business in the UK and overseas."
Meanwhile, the group has claimed in its most recent trading update that the business is running ‘in line’ with expectation, stating that its pharmaceutical PR consultancy Open Health had ‘continued to grow strongly’ since the disposal of Bell Pottinger, and that it expected its sports marketing offer to maintain its profit level for 2012, into next year.
Advertising agency VCCP is also expected to see ‘good growth’ in 2013, while a number of acquisitions are in the process of being reviewed.
“The general trading environment continues to be difficult but, unless there is an unexpected deterioration in our businesses, we expect trading profits for 2012 will be in line with our expectations,” added the trading update.
