Grey London hit by slew of senior departures as Nils Leonard, Lucy Jameson and Natalie Graeme resign
Three of Grey London's most senior staff have resigned, with chairman and chief creative officer Nils Leonard, chief executive Lucy Jameson and managing director Natalie Graeme officially stepping down from their roles.
Three of Grey's most senior staff have departed / grey london resignations
While the trio have yet to confirm where they will be moving on to next, The Drum understands that they have plans to launch their own business.
The agency has moved quickly to fill the gap left by the departures, noting that it has "long had succession plans in place".
In a statement, the creative shop said chief strategy officer Leo Rayman will succeed Jameson as chief executive "in due course".
Vicky Maguire and Dominic Goldman will continue in their executive creative director roles and continue to oversee the day-to-day running of the London creative department. Likewise, Perry Nightingale will continue in his role as executive creative technology director.
Commenting on the news Rayman said: “Grey’s culture is what makes us different and it’s bigger than any one of us. We’re now going to accelerate the Grey project, strengthening our position as the most progressive creative firm in London, with brave culturally-impactful work and acquisitions in tech and data.”
Leonard joined Grey in 2007 and was promoted to the role of chairman in 2014 with a brief to drive innovation across the business alongside creative remit.
Jameson, meanwhile, arrived in 2012 as chief strategy officer and replaced Chris Hirst as chief executive in 2015. Previously at Mother London, Graeme started at Grey in 2013 as managing partner and was promoted to the managing director position last year.
The three departures come as the agency joins other WPP-owned firms in pitching for Marks & Spencer's creative and digital business.
With Rayman taking the helm of the agency, it’s likely the digital initiatives he had been working on in the background will accelerate to the forefront of the agency. Much of Grey’s efforts in the digital space have come via Grey Possible but the agency has been quietly assessing how it can make technology and data more integral to its core proposition.