Barney Cockerell quits CHI for top role at Good Agency

Charity specialist Good Agency has lured CHI & Partners creative chief Barney Cockerell to lead its creative department, as part of a senior management shake-up following a major surge in new business.
The agency, which was launched in 1995, has grown by 50% over the past year and has added NSPCC, ShelterBox and Plan International UK, among others, to its client roster, which already includes WaterAid and Dogs Trust.
Although the agency specialises in charity fundraising, it also works for a number of brands – including Pernod Ricard, O2, Diageo and Unison – on corporate social responsibility and employee engagement.
Cockerell joins the agency this week as creative director, having spent the past six years at CHI. During this time he established the specialist in-house agency at News UK, oversaw TalkTalk’s X-Factor sponsorship and ran The Box, CHI’s dedicated mini-agency for RBS.
Prior to this Cockerell was joint executive creative director at Rapp, along with his long-term creative partner Nick Platt, working on Cancer Research UK, NSPCC, Apple, Unicef, Skype, Barclays and Guide Dogs. The duo had worked at a number of London agencies, including their own business, Alphabet, and at Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA/GGT, Barraclough Hall (now Proximity) and DP&A.
Just before Cockerell joined CHI, Platt moved to the US to become ECD at Rapp Worldwide, based in its Los Angeles office. Platt recently co-founded consultancy the Lola Agency, with offices in the UK and the States.
At Good, Cockerell will work closely Reuben Turner – the former Proximity London creative group head – who will take on a new role as creative partner.
Turner and managing director Chris Norman will be responsible for driving the agency forward, expanding its consumer CSR offering and developing innovations within the charity sector.
As part of the shake-up, Cockerell will join newly promoted deputy MD, Hanisha Kotecha and new head of planning Andy Hyde as the agency’s core senior leadership team.
Turner said: “We spent the last six months searching for a creative director who had the ambition and experience to help us continue to grow and evolve and I am thrilled to say that Barney has that and more. His energy and creativity will be a driving force for both the new leadership team and the entire agency.”
Cockerell added: “I’m really excited to join Good, an agency I’ve always admired. The client list is truly amazing and I’m relishing the challenge of taking the agency’s work to a new level. Hanisha, Andy and I have the opportunity to write the next chapter and make Good the envy of the industry.”