Grace Blue names VCCP founder Ian Priest as global CEO
Search agency Grace Blue has named VCCP co-founder Ian Priest as its global chief executive as the business prepares to expand into new markets and services.
Priest starts the role on Monday (21 September) and will be tasked with steering the business across the UK, North America and Asia. Grace Blue will lean on Priest’s knowledge of the advertising space to build out its consultancy reaction across a number of topical issues such as mergers and acquisitions as well as international expansion.
On his appointment, the VCCP co-founder said:“You can’t have great ideas without great talent – it’s the absolute core of the marketing and communications industry.
“That’s why developing Grace Blue from a leading executive search firm into a global talent leadership consultancy was an appealing next step. Talent and leadership are at the heart of what they do, and working with the best people, both agency and client-side, is what ultimately drives me. I’m excited to work with Jay, Juliet and Gay to see it all come to fruition.”
Priest joins from Chime Communications where he was an executive board member for five years across their PR, sports marketing, and healthcare divisions. Over the last two years, he was also president of UK industry body the IPA – a post he completed in April.
His appointment concludes a transitional period for the business that has seen senior roles change as result. In June, the agency promoted partners Claire Telling and Debra Sercy to co-chief executives of North America to focus on fostering new relationships following the office’s 30 per cent growth year-on-year since 2012, while partners Chris Harris and Sarah Skinner were tasked with the same role in Europe. Last year, Grace Blue launched a Singapore office, hiring former JWT Asia-Pacific president Michael Maedel as executive chairman to support global search briefs in the region.