Publicis Chemistry managing director Jason Foo has quit the agency following confirmation that Mike Welsh has been promoted to the role of chief executive – as revealed by DecisionMarketing three weeks ago.
Foo has been at the agency since January 2003, joining as client services director. He was appointed deputy md in April 2006 and moved across as md when the agency was bought and merged with Publicis Dialog and then rebranded.
Officially, Foo is said to be considering new opportunities, although sources claim he was unhappy to have been overlooked for the top job, made vacant by the resignation of chief executive Joe Garton and managing director Diane Charlton.
In a statement released by the agency, Foo said: “I have enjoyed my time at Chemistry immensely. Having been part of the start of Chemistry, it has been a privilege to help build the agency to its current scale, capabilities and client base. It is now time for me to consider a new challenge.”
Welsh joined Publicis Dialog in the summer of 2008. He had quit Claydon Heeley in the February to join Craik Jones. But after just six months Omnicom folded the agency into Proximity London, and Welsh jumped ship to Dialog. The move reunited him with Publicis Group UK chairman Nigel Jones.
However, Welsh has been in the shadows since the merger with Chemistry – most recently working on the Renault account – and does not even appear in the ‘key people’ section on the agency’s website.
Welsh said: “Publicis Chemistry has gone from strength to strength over the past year and I look forward to building on our reputation as one of the UK’s largest and leading integrated agencies with the entire agency team.”
Jones added: “Mike is one of the most experienced managers in the business and is the perfect leader to take Publicis Chemistry into the next phase of its history.”
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