Walker exits agency world

Christine Walker, the grande doyenne of the media world, is retiring from the agency that she co-founded with Phil Georgiadis in 1997, Marketing Week can exclusively reveal. An announcement is due to be made to the Stock Exchange later today.

The former chief executive of Zenith, now ZenithOptimedia, launched Walker Media†with M&C Saatchi ten years ago with Dixons as its founding client. At the time Zenith, took court action to ensure that she did not poach clients when she set up the rival agency.

Last year, the agency won the £70m media planning and buying for Barclays Bank and it has also been working to establish its digital arm, Walker-i, which it launched in 2006.

The agency sold another 25% of its equity to M&C Saatchi as part of its flotation on the Alternative Investment Market in 2004.

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