Harry Reid, the international president of FCB, has fired its UK
chief executive, Chris Rendel, in what is being seen as a deck-clearing
operation aimed at making the London agency the centrepiece of a new
European network.
Rendel’s three-year tenure in the job came to an abrupt end during a
ten-minute meeting with Reid on Friday.
This week, Reid wouldn’t rule out either an acquisition or a reverse
takeover as a means to restore FCB’s London shop to its former glory and
make it a catalyst for European success.
’The FCB of 20 years ago was the most important agency brand in the UK
and we have to regain that status,’ he said. ’We see London as our
flagship European office.
At the moment it’s not - and we have to take steps to put this
right.’
Rendel, who previously ran Ogilvy & Mather’s pounds 52 million Ford UK
business, is one of four casualties at the pounds 86 million-billing
London office. They include Alan Larsen, a finance director, whose
departure follows last month’s exit of Roy Powell, the chief executive
of FCB International.
Powell was the key finance man in the negotiations with Wilkens
International, the agency group based in Germany and acquired by FCB in
February as part of plans to build a European network of its own after
the dissolution of the alliance between its True North parent and
Publicis.
Rendel’s exit precipitates a round of senior management changes in which
Robert Hamer extends his chairman’s role to take on chief executive
responsibilities.
Four senior executives - Nick Alford, Robert Ballin, Steve Carrigan and
Mark Wilson - become management directors responsible for running groups
of business.
The changes reflect a growing preoccupation with Europe by FCB chiefs in
Chicago who recently moved Geoff Thompson, the worldwide creative
director, to London in order to build the group’s creative profile
(Campaign, 24 October).
