Amanda Phillips has quit as managing partner of An Abundance – the agency she co-founded with former Personal chief Chris Ward – to become managing director of digital agency Volume.
Phillips took up a non-exec and business mentor role at Volume four years ago, having been eased out of Proximity London when it merged with Craik Jones. She had been chief executive for over five years.
She had continued the Volume non-exec role, despite co-launching An Abundance in February 2011. It is unclear how her departure will affect the future of that agency. Chris Ward insisted “there is a bigger story” behind the move but did not elaborate.
At launch the co-founders claimed An Abundance would differentiate itself from other agencies through providing strategic planning that would involve psychologists and consumers.
Phillips started her career at WWAV (now Rapp) in 1989, eventually becoming an account director. She left to join Joshua in 1996, where she took on the role of chief operating officer.
By 2000, she had joined McCann Relationship Marketing as managing director; working closely with Tim Hipperson (now at G2 Joshua), who was eventually promoted to chief executive. Phillips joined Proximity in January 2004.
Volume was launched in April 1997 by current chief executive Chris Sykes.
In a blog post revealing her appointment, Phillips said: “It felt an entirely natural move to become more of a permanent fixture, especially when Chris [Sykes] outlined his ambitions for the next 3 years for the company, and knowing what I already knew about its innovation in technology and the depth of skill and talent within the agency.
“My role will be to build upon the agency’s strengths by introducing a strategic planning component to our offering, to attract clients both within the tech sector and outside into new areas for the business, as well as supporting the team with their existing clients, and lead the operational management within the agency.”
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