The Publicis Groupe UK leadership team has been set, with COO Jo Coombs, chief growth officer Anna Campbell and head of talent Paula Cunnington coming on board. They join chief financial officer James Barnes-Austin who started in June this year. All will report directly to CEO of Publicis Groupe UK, Annette King.
 
Coombs joins from Ogilvy where she was the UK CEO of OgilvyOne. Coombs has worked with brands including British Airways, American Express, Unilever, Boots, BT, British Gas and the UK Government to establish long-lasting consumer and business-to-business relationships, drive business results and build strong brands. In her new role as COO, Coombs will help drive the country model, working closely with the solution hub and agency leads, fostering even greater collaboration across all talent at Publicis Groupe UK to optimize, and where relevant, reinvent the client offering. She will also be exec sponsor on key pitches for Groupe UK and help integrate specialist offerings with a focus on data, content and dynamic creativity.
 
Campbell will join from OMD Worldwide, where she led marketing and business development, overseeing 65 markets across the EMEA region. There, she re-engineered the function and running of pitches, resulting in successes including the global wins of Disney and Liberty accounts, plus Tourism Ireland and Trip Advisor. In her new remit as chief growth officer, Campbell will work closely with the solution hub and agency leads in the UK on prospecting and business development opportunities, identifying existing client need for additional expertise within the business and leveraging Publicis Groupe’s creative, tech and data capabilities. Campbell will also be focused on further bringing to life the Power of One in the UK to help deliver its unique integrated offer to clients.
 
Cunnington joins from Dentsu Aegis Network where she was UK&I chief people officer. Cunnington brings a range of experience from media, consultancy and financial services having also held roles at Barclays Group, Santander and Accenture. As head of talent for Publicis Groupe UK, she will be responsible for leading a strategic talent plan across Groupe UK, working closely with the solution hub CTOs, and focusing on fostering culture to further build a collaborative, progressive and inclusive environment across Publicis Groupe UK building on work to date to make it a best-in-class example of how to put talent at the heart of an organization to succeed.

The Publicis Groupe UK leadership team appointment aligns with Publicis Groupe’s country model rollout in eight key markets: North America, the United Kingdom, France, DACH (Germany, Switzerland and Austria), Northern and Central Europe, Southern Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East/Africa, and Latin America.
 
Publicis Groupe UK is made up of over 5,500 employees and 32 agency brands that sit within the solutions hubs: Publicis Communications, Publicis Media, Publicis.Sapient and Publicis Health.