CheethamBell chief to start recruitment shop

CheethamBell JWT marketing director Kate Harris is leaving the agency to set up a recruitment consultancy called Harris. The former Nabs chief executive will concentrate on headhunting and recruiting board-level agency staff in the Manchester,

CheethamBell JWT marketing director Kate Harris is leaving the agency to set up a recruitment consultancy called Harris. The former Nabs chief executive will concentrate on headhunting and recruiting board-level agency staff in the Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow areas, but is also expected to work in London.

Harris joined the Manchester agency just 12 months ago, and was tasked with boosting the agency’s profile, after it had won a string of accounts that have included the &£9m Magnet, Casio and a number of COI briefs.

Harris left Nabs after five years at the industry charity, during which time she made significant changes to its fundraising programme. The charity now turns over &£2.5m annually and helps more than 3,000 people a year. She introduced the Big Bash, which replaced the Boxing Night as the charity’s major annual fundraising event. She also oversaw the launch of the May Day Pay Day.

Harris, who will remain based in the North-west, says she wants to strengthen the talent pool in the industry beyond London and find the London industry talent from the regions.

Prior to Nabs, Harris was a board account director at Grey Advertising, having joined when Mellors Reay was merged with it in 1998. Previously she was at Leagas Delaney for four years, working on the BBC, Adidas and Bendicks accounts.