Mawditt Leaves WPP's Kinetic to Join Rival Talon

Nick Mawditt, Global Director of Insight and Marketing at WPP's out-of-home agency Kinetic Worldwide, is set to join rival Talon Outdoor in July, as the agency's new Director of Research and Insight.

Last summer, Kinetic's former CEO Eric Newnham bought around three-quarters of London-based Talon from its joint shareholders, MD Nick Jarman and the specialist financial media agency Ptarmigan Media. Since then he has recruited several former Kinetic employees, including Yvonne Scullion and James Copley as Managing Partners, and the agency has recently been awarded Omnicom Media Group UK's £140m outdoor business, which was previously handled by Aegis' Posterscope.

Mawditt (pictured) joins with 25 years' experience, mostly from media research. Prior to Kinetic, he worked at CNBC as European Head of Research, before which he led ORC International's Consumer, Trade and Retail division, and held senior research positions at Initiative Media, TNS, Carlton, Television South West, ITV and Reuters.

Commenting on the appointment, Newnham said: 'Nick's appointment completes our vision for the team. We now have experts from all elements of the sector and we all intend to be hands on and client facing. There are no ivory towers at Talon and I am delighted to say that this prospect - as well as our independence - is a major part of what enticed senior people to join us.'

The company's web site is under construction at: www.talonoutdoor.com .