15956: There’s A New Ruler In The UK.

Adweek reported that Karen Blackett has been promoted to President of WPP UK. What could possibly be more newsworthy in the UK right now?

 

GroupM’s Karen Blackett Promoted to President of WPP UK

 

She previously held the role of UK CEO for the media network and UK country manager

 

By Stephen Lepitak

 

As it brings its agencies closer together in the U.K. into a second campus based in London to further simplify its operations, agency network WPP has promoted GroupM’s chief executive there, Karen Blackett, to country president.

 

The elevation of Blackett, who initially joined media agency Mediacom as chief operations director in 2008, will see her step up from U.K. country manager, a role she also held—placing a full-time focus on WPP, which employs around 12,000 people in the U.K.

 

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said in a statement that—as its second largest market, generating over $2.34 billion (2 billion pounds) in revenue—the U.K. required someone to focus on it full-time.

 

“Karen is one of the most admired figures in our industry and the kind of collaborative, people-focused leader who is perfect for this role,” he added.

 

The second multi-agency campus, which will house Grey and Mindshare, following the establishment of the offices in Sea Containers on London’s South Bank, which also houses Wavemaker, VML Y&R and Ogilvy. Manchester is another base for WPP, opened in 2019 for regional operations.

 

Karen Blackett said: “I took on the GroupM role in the first week of lockdown in 2020, with a focus on guiding the business through the pandemic and beginning the transformation of GroupM in the U.K. We’ve made huge progress and achieved so much in those two and a half years—and I’m delighted to be able to hand the baton to a new leader with the organisation in good health.”

 

A successor as U.K. chief executive of GroupM “will be announced in due course,” the business has said.

 

Christian Juhl, global CEO of GroupM, outlined Blackett’s achievements in the previous role: “When she became CEO of GroupM in the UK, Karen had very clear objectives, which she has delivered in full. During her time with GroupM, the business has grown strongly and our agencies in the UK have won and retained substantial business, with a range of major clients.”