The Leith Agency restructures with Marsham taking top Edinburgh role
The Leith Agency has announced a restructuring of its senior management with Richard Marsham being appointed managing partner responsible for the running of the agency’s Edinburgh office.
The move will see current MD Phil Adams become managing partner responsible for Leith’s relationship with Cello, the agency’s parent company.
John Rowley has been appointed chairman of Leith and Farm Communications in London.
Another move has seen Ian White, head of direct, promoted to partner, the first non-advertising-related board appointment in the agency’s history.
Marsham said of the appointment: “Ian has now been with us for just over three years. At first, direct was a tiny part of the business. It now accounts for over 30 percent of our business and is growing. It is, in fact, probably the fastest growing part of the agency. It seems right that when you have somebody who has done a very good job to grow the business, that person should have a say at board level in terms of the direction we go in. The more integrated that we become, the more we want people from different disciplines to have a say at a higher level.”
Commenting on the restructure, Marsham continued: “This [the restructure] will reflect the fact that what we’re offering as an agency is changing. We’re moving more towards an integrated agency and some of our recent hirings also reflect that. By doing this we’re bringing in a number of senior people who are senior in their own discipline. Historically, The Leith Agency has been structured as a very traditional, above-the-line advertising agency. In fact our whole board was people made up of above-the-line advertising, but now areas like direct are accounting for more and more of our profits. It was only right that people who were representing that discipline within the agency had a say in the running of the agency.”
On his own appointment, Marsham said: “For me personally, I guess it’s partly something that I’ve wanted to do and it’s at a time when the Cello group is growing more and more.
“Phil’s been here for six years, so it’s time for him to move on and look more at trying to make use of the other companies under the Cello umbrella and manage those relationships and for me to take responsibility of the day to day management of the agency in Edinburgh. Phil’s role will cover Cello companies and other companies that Cello may buy or create.”
Marsham said that the management restructure was in no way related to the merger of Leith London and Farm, or John Denholm’s departure.
He also added that Adams, while overseeing other companies under the Cello umbrella would continue to work as the senior contact with Irn-Bru and Coors.