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A 30 per cent hike in business has prompted MediaCom to strengthen

its management team through a series of promotions.

They include handing a board directorship to former Direct Line account

director Nigel Robinson and promoting five employees to associate

director level.

Robinson, 33, took over the pounds 30 million-plus Direct Line business

from director David Porter, who moved on to the Volkswagen account when

MediaCom won the brief at the end of last year.

Robinson oversees a team of four - including media manager Martin

Greenbank and planner Rachel Congdon - and also looks after the Sunday

Business account, worth pounds 5 million a year.

’Nigel came from the media business side of the agency and has been an

associate director for four years,’ said MediaCom’s Nick Lawson, who is

joint managing director of the agency, working alongside Jane

Ratcliffe.

Before he joined the agency, Robinson spent six years with Carat.

The new associate directors include director of radio Mike

Hope-Milne.

The former Classic FM group head and Western International Media head of

radio joined MediaCom in September last year.

Joining him as associate directors are Cathryn Crow and Adam Walsh from

MediaCom Direct. The direct marketing operation has been the fastest

growing division in the agency over the past two years and last week it

landed the pounds 2 million Digital Cellphones account.

The other two new associate directors are Estelle Friedman, head of the

pounds 35 million TV group, and Mick Mernagh, who is in charge of

qualitative research.

Lawson said the spate of promotions ’reflects the need to strengthen the

team’ after media billings grew to pounds 110 million last year.

No direct replacements are being sought for the employees who have

recently been promoted, but MediaCom’s growth has opened up 20 vacancies

at all levels within the company.

Lawson added that other internal and external appointments could be

expected ’in the near future’.

MediaCom’s client portfolio includes Direct Line, Procter & Gamble, IPC

Southbank, Mars, Roche Products and SmithKline Beecham.