Wunderman UK chef executive Chris Perry has quit the WPP-owned agency less than a year after taking up the role vacated by Mel Edwards, following her promotion to a wider EMEA post.
On joining in March last year, Perry said that he could not “wait to take on the responsibility of helping drive the business to the next level”, however, he has now stepped down to follow “other interests”.
Perry started his career as a media planner at Ogilvy & Mather in 1994, but has been involved in a number of digital agencies since; in 1996 he launched one of the first UK digital ad agencies, DNA Consulting, which was bought by Razorfish parent company aQuantive in 2005.
He was then promoted to joint chief executive of Razorfish, a role he held for five years until the agency was bought by Publicis. The same year he helped to launch Fabric, the WPP-owned big data specialist.
Edwards – formerly Cruickshank – was handed her new role in February last year and now heads up the agency’s EMEA region, in charge of over 3,000 staff and nearly 80 offices; she is also UK chairman.
She succeeded Stephane Faggianelli, who also left to pursue “other opportunities”, although has yet to re-emerge.
Wunderman said that Perry’s successor will be revealed shortly, while Edwards is quoted as saying: “Perry leaves with the agency’s thanks and best wishes.”
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