PHD UK has appointed Sarah Nugent as managing director of its London office and Toby Nettle as chief client officer.
The pair are long-serving managing partners of the agency and join chief executive Ali Reed’s “exco” Leadership team.
Nugent has worked at PHD for nearly eight years, having joined from Walker Media, and served as a managing partner for the past five. She runs PHD’s Warner Bros and LG accounts, and is business transformation lead on the British Heart Foundation.
She will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the business, helping develop the agency culture, diversity and inclusion programme, and drive business growth.
Nugent is PHD’s first London managing director since former agency boss Veriça Djurdjevic (who is now the chief revenue officer at Channel 4) was promoted from that role to CEO in 2017.
Nettle joined PHD as a graduate in 2003 and most recently has been overseeing the agency’s largest client, Volkswagen Group, as a managing partner.
As chief client officer he will be responsible for client servicing, training and developing new ways for PHD to add value to clients’ businesses.
Nettle does not succeed anyone; PHD’s last chief client officer was Hattie Whiting, who left the agency in 2020.
The duo are the latest appointments to Reed’s new-look leadership team, following the arrivals of Irin Rahman as chief data and technology officer, Lucy Barbor as chief strategy officer and Kate Browne as chief transformation officer late last year.
“I’m delighted to have Toby and Sarah join our exco to help drive the next chapter of growth for PHD,” Reed said
“They exemplify the best of our PHD values, and both have proven track records in client leadership, delivering purpose-driven, award-winning work and new-business success.
“I look forward to seeing their PHD experience blend with the new leadership talent arriving at the agency as we continue to push the boundaries of what businesses expect from a media agency.”
Article originally published on Campaign here.
