M&C SAATCHI's long-term chief executive Moray MacLennan will retire from the role after nearly three decades at the helm, it was announced yesterday.

The veteran, who was part of its founding team in 1995, will be replaced by chair and former Future CEO Zillah Byng-Thorne in the interim, until a permanent decision is made.

Byng-Thorne joined the firm just weeks ago as chair and non-executive director after a decade at the top of stock market darling Future.

M&C Saatchi said MacLennan will formally step down by 30 September.

MacLennan, who joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1983, said: "It has been a rare privilege to work for three decades with people I respect and like, creating work that has had an extraordinary impact on the world.

"M&C Saatchi is well set for the future and now is the right time to make way for fresh energy and ideas."

The news comes as part of a wider leadership shakeup at the advertising giant, after chair Gareth Davis in January announced he would not seek reelection.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said Maclennan's exit was "not ideal" for the firm, reasoning that it added "further uncertainty in an already challenged backdrop".

Investors seemed unperturbed, however, with shares closing up 3.72 per cent yesterday.

The firm last year reported a net revenue of £271m, an almost 10 per cent year-onyear increase.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper