Mission drafts in oil man as new boss of agency group

Mission Group has shunned the agency world to appoint its new chief executive, instead opting for a man who has spent nearly his entire career in the oil and petroleum industry to succeed James Clifton, who quit late last year.

Following an external process, 62-year-old John Carey has been appointed CEO with effect from September 1 2025 and draws on over 30 years of experience in global businesses, most recently holding executive positions at Castrol, BP and Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation for Distribution, where he led the company’s IPO in 2017.

In 2020, Carey was appointed to the board of forecourt retailer EG Group, initially as non-executive director and from 2023 to 2025 assumed the role of executive director and president of EG America, where he led the group’s business transformation plans.

Interim CEO Mark Lund, the former McCann Worldgroup UK and Europe chief, will now resume his previous role as non-executive director.

Last year, the group behind agencies Krow, Bray Leino, and Story, rejected a takeover bid by fellow AIM-listed digital media and martech company Brave Bison.

At the time, Mission said that “following consultation with financial and legal advisers, [we have] unanimously rejected the possible offer which [we] believe to be opportunistic and significantly undervalues the group and its prospects”.

Clifton resigned within weeks; he is now CEO at The Marketing Practice.

Mission chair David Morgan said: “I am delighted to confirm John’s appointment as Mission’s new CEO. A highly experienced international leader, he brings a diverse breadth of commercial and business transformation expertise with a strong operations background.

“Mission has a highly experienced senior leadership team who collectively boast over 200 years of experience in the marketing industry. The board believes John’s skills will be highly complementary and valuable to the group as it continues to make progress against its plans and explores new opportunities to deliver sustainable, long-term growth and value to our clients, colleagues and shareholders.”