Former AA Boss is New Kantar Chief Executive

Kantar has chosen a new Chief Executive - Chris Jansen, currently CEO of global schools group Cognita, starts in the role on 1st November.

Jansen (pictured) brings twenty years' experience of leadership in the services sector; from brand building to service delivery transformation: he also has a background in FMCG marketing and a track record of managing private equity-owned businesses. Prior to Cognita he led the Automobile Association (AA) to a stock market flotation in 2014; and earlier he worked in senior roles at both British Gas and British Airways. He began his career at Procter & Gamble.

Kantar will be hoping Jansen lasts longer in the role than previous CEO Alexis Nasard, who joined at the very end of 2020 and left after just four months, having concluded after discussions with the Board that 'the nature of the Kantar role [was] not the long-term fit he and the Board had anticipated'. The global group spent ten months of 2020 without a CEO, and Deputy Chief Ian Griffiths will have been in the role for half of this year too. As at least two Premier League clubs will attest, it's not easy to fill the shoes of a legend, and previous incumbent Eric Salama had been in the top job almost as long as Messrs Ferguson and Wenger.

Announcing the appointment, Kantar Chairman (and former Football Association CEO) Adam Crozier said Jansen's 'track record of building great companies, as well as his entrepreneurial and competitive spirit' would add further to the leadership team the group has been building over the past 18 months. He added: 'Chris is a highly people-centric leader who understands the importance a strong culture plays in delivering outstanding results. As we continue on our transformation journey at Kantar, and build on our recent business momentum, Chris' leadership will be instrumental in fulfilling the ambition that we have'.

Jansen himself says, 'Kantar is rightly regarded as a world leader in data and insights led consultancy and has an outstanding reputation with its clients. This is a result of having outstanding people, and I am really looking forward to working very closely with the Kantar team. We have an exciting future ahead, as we continue to embrace advanced analytics and the latest technology in order to better serve our clients'.

Group home page: www.kantar.com .