St Ives Names New CEO

UK marketing services group St. Ives has announced that CEO Matt Armitage will retire at the end of the current financial year, to be succeeded by the group's first Chief Digital Officer, J Schwan.

St Ives includes a number of marketing services businesses, including consumer and MR consultancy Incite, retail and consumer specialist Pragma, and digital marketing agency Realise. The group recently merged three of its businesses - Response One, Amaze One and Occam - to create a new agency combining data science and marketing technology, with a focus on the intelligent application of data.

Armitage joined St Ives as CFO in 2007, and was appointed CEO in 2014. Under his leadership, the group recently disposed of its last remaining print business, concluding an eight year transformation from a business focused entirely on print, to one focused exclusively on business services. Schwan will take over after a career which has included founding digital innovation firm Solstice and time in Accenture's emerging technologies lab. He joined St Ives three years ago when it acquired Solstice for around $36m.

When Schwan becomes CEO in August, Armitage will remain with the group as a special adviser for twelve months to assist with the transition. Chairman Richard Stillwell comments: 'Matt has been the architect of the transformation of St Ives and he has successfully steered the group through a period of unparalleled change. Thanks to him, the group is now poised for a period of exciting growth in sectors that are characterised by innovation, technology and customer experience. The Board is delighted to be able to appoint J as Matt's successor. We are confident in his ability to develop and implement a strategy for St Ives to become a world leading, digital business transformation group'.

Web site: www.st-ives.co.uk .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.