RocketMill has recruited Thomas Byrne from Jellyfish to be chief executive, an appointment that sees him replace the incumbent CEO and co-founder Sam Garrity.
The succession plan sees Garrity become chairman of the Brighton-based independent performance agency and lead its employee ownership trust – ensuring the board is running the business "effectively and efficiently"; upholding its principles as a staff-owned business; and working on key projects to "facilitate growth, alleviating the board of distractions".
Movers & Shakers: ±±¾©Èü³µpk10's weekly roundup of hires, departures and promotions
Byrne joins RocketMill this month from Jellyfish, where he spent less than a year. His former employer hired him and Adam Guilfoyle from Dentsu-owned Merkle last summer, appointing Byrne as executive vice-president of EMEA agency services. The duo were credited with helping build Merkle's EMEA presence.
Prior to his three-and-a-half years as EVP EMEA agency services at the flagship Merkle agency, he worked at Periscopix for 12 years, rising to be vice-president of growth and partnerships EMEA at Merkle Periscopix following the acquisition by Dentsu. Before that, he was managing director of Alchemi Consulting.
Employee-owned RocketMill, which came fifth in ±±¾©Èü³µpk10's Best Places to Work 2022 (Top 5 medium-sized companies), has a workforce of 130, all of whom gain a share of profits every quarter.
RocketMill said that "despite numerous offers to buy RocketMill, we are committed to remaining independent and employee-owned", a platform "of fairness that enables us to attract the finest talent".
It plans to capitalise on its staff-owned status to attract the "finest talent from our rivals", "to partner with the UK's most forward-thinking clients, and become the largest agency in the UK", Byrne said.
"In terms of scale, we are not envisaging a network-sized business, more like 500-plus staff in three to five years' time, with a culture we are proud of, upholding the values of EO, and with a strong focus on the UK market.
"Given the scale of our ambition and the fact we have wind in our sails, we feel now is the perfect time for us to add firepower to our leadership team."
Garrity added: "[Byrne] was literally our number one pick in the entire market. I've known Tom for six-plus years, I consider him to be the brightest individual I've met in marketing, and just as importantly, he's a wonderful human.
"Tom's track record speaks for itself. He was part of the senior leadership that led Periscopix from a team of 10 to circa 400, then sold that business to Merkle, leading their assault on Europe, taking them to the very top of the tree in terms of expertise and scale, before seeing them sold to Dentsu International.
"Tom has seen the good and bad along this journey, allowing him to readily signpost us in pursuit of our goals."
Employee ownership platform
Byrne said that he was drawn to the CEO post at RocketMill for reasons including its employee-owned status.
He continued: "For so many of us, Covid afforded a moment of reflection: what we do, who we do it with and what we do it for has become more meaningful.
"Within the context of our market and the fight for talent, the [employee ownership platform] delivers value for all stakeholders. Our rivals are publicly listed businesses, prioritising shareholders, or have sold to private equity, meaning they prioritise prompt returns for investors. We prioritise the wellbeing of our team and performance for our clients."
Garrity and his brother, Ben, founded RocketMill in 2009.
The agency works with clients including Dropbox and Kimberly-Clark. It has scooped numerous accolades, including ±±¾©Èü³µpk10's aforementioned Best Places to Work, a Sunday Times Best Places to Work, and various performance and campaign awards.
Performance marketing has been a boom area in the past decade as brands have used data-driven digital advertising and communications to drive measurable business performance.
Agency groups and private equity investors have taken majority or minority stakes in a number of other UK-based performance agencies, including Jellyfish, Brainlabs, Croud and Assembly (formerly ForwardPMX) in recent years.
.jpg)
.jpeg)
