When Moray MacLennan announced earlier this week that he was set to put an end to his 40-year association with the Saatchi name by stepping down from his role as CEO of M&C Saatchi, it came as a surprise to many.
With media stalwart Zillah Byng-Thorne named as his temporary replacement, the lack of permanent successor would indicate that although the decision was ‘amicable’, according to Campaign, it was also unexpected.
The agency has had a turbulent 18 months since MacLennan took up the role in January 2021, with several failed takeover attempts from both Next15 and majority shareholder Vin Murria’s investment vehicle AdvancedAdvT.
MacLennan’s departure is all the more significant because he himself was a founder member of M&C Saatchi when it broke away from Saatchi & Saatchi in 1995. Jumping ship along with Maurice and Charles Saatchi, MacLennan has held various chief executive roles across the wider M&C Saatchi Group ever since.
On his departure, MacLennan said: “As I approach 40 years of Saatchi in many ways it feels like precisely the wrong time to move on, but I have decided it is precisely the right time.
“M&C Saatchi has delivered an impressive turnaround, come through its existential moment, and is well set for the future – now is the right time to make way for new energy and new ideas. It has been a privilege to work for so many years doing something I enjoy, with people I like, at this extraordinary company. Thanks to all clients and colleagues, past and present.”
His successor Zillah Byng-Thorne, a highly accomplished media executive who spent a decade as CEO of Marie Claire publisher Future, will now take temporary charge as executive chair for around 12 months. This move has also come as a surprise, with Byng-Thorne only just named as M&C Saatchi’s non-executive chair on 14 June.
Byng-Thorne will officially take up her new role on 1 September, with MacLennan due to leave his post at the end of that month. While only a temporary role, this latest appointment marks another chapter in Byng-Thorne’s impressive career.
Having forged a solid reputation by turning around the fortunes of ailing multimedia firm Future during her decade-long tenure from 2013 to 2023, she notably guided the business through a series of high-profile acquisitions including TI Media (formerly IPC), The Week owner Dennis Publishing and price comparison site Go Compare.
Byng-Thorne’s monumental impact on Future across her tenure as CEO can hardly be understated – when she announced her impending departure in September last year, a whopping £300 million was wiped off the company’s market value.
Initially joining as chief financial officer from AutoTrader in October 2013 with Future on the brink of financial ruin, Byng-Thorne so impressed shareholders that she was swiftly installed as CEO the following spring.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
“For the first 12 months, I wondered if I would be able to pay the wages next month. I had a directorial responsibility not just to shareholders but to stakeholders, staff, to get through that period and become the business we are today,” Byng-Thorne said, recalling her difficult first year at Future.
After rescuing the firm from death’s door – notably putting the entirety of its British staff on redundancy notice and eventually cutting 40% of them – Future is now worth an astonishing £4.7 billion; more than double the market value of Daily Mail, i and Metro owner DGMS.
“Zillah has a wealth of experience across media and technology businesses,” an M&C Saatchi spokesperson commented.
“Her breadth of experience across executive and non-executive roles, combined with transformation and digital expertise, mean she is well-placed to work with the wider board and steward M&C Saatchi’s next phase.”
Byng-Thorne’s accession to the board last month made M&C Saatchi’s leadership group a third female, a positive step for gender parity. Her latest appointment will only help to cement that precedent within the group.
What does Byng-Thorne’s prestigious, albeit temporary, new role mean for women in adland? The sector is already well-known for its high levels of females CEOs, currently standing at an industry-wide 30% – significantly above the 17% seen across the rest of the economy.
Although these figures are promising in a general context, WACL’s target of complete gender parity at CEO level within adland will not be reached until 2060 at the current rate of growth.
Naturally, Byng-Thorne’s appointment is a step in the right direction for greater representation, and even if her tenure at one the UK’s flagship agencies is brief – it is most definitely a major coup for gender parity across the board.
All things considered Byng-Thorne won’t have an easy ride of it over the coming months, with M&C Saatchi’s financial concerns far from allayed, if not significantly worsened by MacLennan’s departure.
Will she be able to turn M&C Saatchi’s fortunes around? She certainly has previous.
