Publicis chief to chair Research International

Paul%20EdwardsWPP has appointed Publicis’ UK chief strategy officer Paul Edwards as UK chairman of its market research agency Research International.

The appointment follows the reshuffle at Publicis which led to Edwards’ departure after just three years with the agency. He is expected to leave Publicis by the end of summer.

Edwards will be returning to the agency where he started his career and will report directly to Mark Cranmer, RI’s worldwide chief executive.

He will partner RI UK’s chief executive and ex-colleague Julian Bond and will be tasked with directing and shaping the company’s offer to clients. RI says that Bond and Edwards will create a “formidable” partnership and will drive the progress of its global network.

Edwards is just the latest recruit Cranmer has made since he joined a year ago, as he looks to reshape the makeup of WPP’s Kantar Group agency.

Other appointments include external recruits Nadim Sadek as worldwide commercial and strategy director and Eric Dingman who joined from Inbev as operations director.

Prior to his time at Publicis, Edwards worked at Lowe & Partners following stints as chairman and chief executive of The Henley Centre. He has also served as planning director at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Young & Rubicam and Lowe.

In the wake of Edwards’s departure, Publicis has appointed Kim Douglas, previously head of planning, to the newly created position of executive planning director.

RI UK has 270 employees and is the largest office of the 40 country network.