Tournes left the Publicis-owned agency to join magazine publisher IPC Media as its group trading director, leaving his former role of press director at the agency vacant.
Allen will work mainly for Starcom MediaVest, but will be involved with negotiations across Starcom MediaVest and Starcom. His main activity will be on the BT business.
In March, Ian Anders, head of broadcast at Mediaedge:cia, left to join Billetts media consultancy as a team leader.
Mediaedge:cia said that it would be looking to make announcements soon regarding replacements for Anders and Allen. However, there is speculation that it might not fill the two posts, but instead someone could be appointed at a group trading level at the WPP-owned agency.
Chris Locke, UK trading director at Starcom, said: "Neil was the best person in the market with that mixture of intelligence and aggression."
Allen joins after a restructure at the agency last month, which included the promotion of Avril Gallagher, client services director, to client managing director. Stewart Easterbrook, previously the operations director for Starcom MediaVest, has taken the role of client managing director with responsibility for Starcom in the UK.
Andy Roberts, the managing partner for the EMEA region, was promoted to client managing director, while Locke was promoted to UK trading director from group trading director.
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