More RI Management Changes as Edwards Becomes CEO

Research International's UK Chairman Paul Edwards has swapped places with UK CEO Julian Bond, taking on the day-to-day running of the agency.

Bond, who had been UK CEO since May 2006, now has a global remit to develop innovation tools.

Edwards began his career with RI as a trainee, after which he worked in a number of senior positions including CEO of WPP-owned The Henley Centre, and Planning Director at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Lowe and Y&R. Prior to re-joining RI last August (www.mrweb.com/drno/news6977.htm ), Edwards was Chief Strategy Officer at Publicis. In his new role, Edwards also becomes a member of the firm's Worldwide Management Board.

Bond joined the firm in 1982 to work on the utilisation of computer modeling and advanced statistical analysis. Subsequently, as Director of the company's Technical Systems, he was responsible for the analysis of development models worldwide.

Worldwide CEO Bob Meyers explained: 'Paul has a proven management track record and I am sure will do a superb job continuing the progress which Julian has made during 2007.'

WPP appointed Meyers, previously CEO of its market research company Millward Brown, to take over from Mark Cranmer as Global Chief Executive of RI in August last year. Cranmer, who replaced Roger Banks as Global CEO of RI in February 2006 (www.mrweb.com/drno/news5201.htm ), was responsible for a major restructuring exercise that November in which a number of UK-based directors were made redundant (www.mrweb.com/drno/news7165.htm ).

RI is an operating company of the Kantar Group - the information, insight and consultancy division of WPP - and is online at www.research-int.com.