Beattie, the UK creative communications group which has offices in Birmingham, has signed Alison Clarke, the former chief of Grayling.
Clarke, who has experience of the West Midlands PR scene having been a director of the parent company of HTPR (formerly Haslimann Taylor PR) and Harrison Cowley in the past, is coming on board as chairman of Only Marketing – Beattie’s specialist marketing brand.
Clarke, whose appointment begins with immediate effect, served as CEO of Grayling UK and Ireland from 2011. Prior to that she was Huntsworth Group’s business development director which acquired Midlands agencies’ HTPR and Harrison Cowley in the noughties.
Beattie Group’s Midlands Regional Director Rachel Gladwin said: “We’re thrilled to have snapped up a second industry giant in the space of a month. Alison is one of the most respected PR leaders in Britain and her international reputation goes before her.
“We look forward to her working with us to grow the Only Marketing brand in the Midlands and landing some of the most sought after PR, creative, digital, content, media and data marketing accounts out there.”
Her appointment follows hard on the heels of Beattie’s appointment of Kevin Roberts, the former global CEO and chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi as Beattie Group chairman.
Kevin said: “We are building strong foundations for expansion at home and abroad and you can only achieve great things if you’ve got great people. Alison is a fantastic addition to our team.”
Clarke said: “I’m excited about joining Beattie Group at a time when we are expanding across the UK and targeting English-speaking countries around the world.
“Beattie is a business with so much potential and I look forward to playing my part in growing the Only Marketing brand across specialist industry sectors including health, retail and technology.”
As well as its Birmingham office, now headed by Cadbury’s former head of communication Tony Bilsborough, Beattie has seven other offices in the UK and trades under three headline brands – Beattie, its creative communications consultancy, 11ten, its student recruitment brand and Only Marketing where specialist boutiques brands include Only Health, Only Retail, Only Tech, Only Student Recruitment and Only Crisis.
Beattie recently announced its expansion into Canada with offices in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
Founded 31 years ago by journalist Gordon Beattie, the group currently has 130 marketing and communications specialists in the UK, and is projecting a global group turnover of £50 million by 2020.