Underwired boosts senior team - DecisionMarketing

eCRM and customer engagement agency Underwired has strengthened its senior team by appointing a new managing director to succeed co-founder Felix Valarde, who moves up to chief executive.
John Thew started his career client-side at Reader’s Digest in the late Eighties, before spending five years at Wunderman, where he rose to become planning director for Ford, as well as leading the agency team that delivered Ford’s first ever European websites across 22 markets.
He then went on to become managing director at Agency.com, delivering similar success for Heineken, Intel, One2One (now T-Mobile) and many other clients.
Most recently Thew has been managing director at Flow Interactive, where he oversaw the merger with Foolproof to form the largest user excperience agency in Europe and also at Further, the leading and multi-award winning search, content and social media marketing agency.
Co-founded by Velarde and Jason Holland, Underwired’s clients include ASICS, , Harveys Furniture, Bupa, Mitchells & Butlers, and Sony Entertainment Europe.
The agency has witnessed spectacular growth in the past year, doubling last year’s turnover in the first six months of 2013, driven by new business from British Land and Travelodge.
Velarde commented: “John is a fantastic addition to the Underwired team, following a year of stellar growth. His enormous experience will be a significant asset as we grow our client list – all highly commercial brands who demand tangible value creation.”