Creative agency Smyle has expanded its leadership team with three senior management promotions and the appointment of a new group chair.
The agency is expanding its directors’ group, by appointing managers from three key areas of the business to improve its leadership’s skills, knowledge and capabilities.
Head of creative, Emma Gardner, becomes executive design director; head of people experience, Charlotte Key becomes people experience director and client development director, James Howitt also joins the group, with the same job title.
Gardner has been at Smyle for six years. She will be responsible for creating a diverse and dynamic creative team.
Key joined the agency 2016 and is responsible for day-to-day people operations. A qualified chartered member of the CIPD, she has experience at national and international organisations and has worked in sectors such as the NHS, professional services, creative and media. At Smyle, she has helped the agency’s development by evolving how Smyle supports, develops, retains its people, as well as identifying the talent of the future, from diverse backgrounds.
Howitt joined the agency two years ago, spearheading the client development effort, with his role now assuming responsibility for the client experience division including a number of relationship leads and managers. He has experience in the B2C and B2B sectors where he has built experiences for brands including Diageo, Adidas and HSBC.
Additionally, Smyle has appointed Paul Woolley, former global president and chief operating officer of the Omnicom network grouping CPM International, as chair of the Smyle Group board. He brings extensive knowledge and experience of working within the media, creative, digital, content and live industries.
Dominic Thomas-Smith, managing director of Smyle, said: “We are creating greater focus in the leadership of the agency by bringing in specialist voices around creative, talent and clients. We want to be the UK’s most creative agency, we want to be a destination for the industry’s most sought-after talent, and we want to do great work for our clients. Our new look Directors’ Group with Emma, Charlotte and James on board, will bring these specialist skills to the leadership of the business, allowing us to focus on these areas more, and prepare us for an exciting new chapter in our development.”
Keith O’Loughlin, Smyle Group CEO, added: “We are thrilled to have Paul on board. He will bring greater expertise, experience and bandwidth to the boardroom table, challenge the management and hold us to account to make sure everything we do fits with our strategy to become one of the world’s leading creative agencies for physical and digital experiences and content.”
