Havas Media Network UK promotes Kim James to chief growth and business development officer to build on the momentum achieved in 2024 under incumbent Nick Wright who will now lead the Havas Play Network. In her new role, James is tasked with establishing a more integrated and client-centric approach to business development, growth and marketing.
As part of the expanded remit, James will lead the charge on new business alongside establishing new frameworks and strategies for client retention across HMN UK & Ireland to maintain its recent strong retention record. She will put in place growth and business development programmes for new and existing clients and will support the integration and impactful delivery of new acquisitions.
She will also help unearth new growth opportunities for clients through deeper integration with the wider Havas Village, as well as via Havas’ ‘ Converged strategy to provide fully integrated, cross-functional communications solutions across creativity, media, production and technology.
Harnessing her client-first mindset, approach and expansive category experience, James will help position HMN’s diverse range of capabilities, skills and talent more effectively to prospective and existing clients. James will lead HMN’s 20-person strong growth team comprising of new business, design, marketing and PR to drive the marketing agenda for the Network, building the reputation of HMN and its agency brands through a proactive marketing and events programme.
She will join an expanded executive committee which also now includes recently hired chief planning and strategy officer Emma Withington.
Since joining Havas Entertainment as deputy managing director in September 2023, James has worked alongside managing director Hamid Habib to establish Havas Entertainment as one of HMN’s fastest growing agency brands in the industry, helping the agency bag Penguin and mostly recently Red Bull, supporting the retention and expansion of Sega and Bethesda, expanding Bumble into new markets, and onboarding Harman EMEA in the second half of this year.
Prior to Havas, James worked at Dentsu Media where she spent her entire career since 2004. She hails from a client planning both for UK and international clients across FMCG, retail, entertainment and beverages. Later, she rose to chief client officer within Amplifi where she was exec sponsor on the government buying account before transitioning in 2020 to managing director of client growth – focusing her efforts on driving organic growth across the Networks’ client base.
James will report into the Patrick Affleck, CEO of HMN UK & Ireland, who said, “Kim is a proven leader who possesses a unique combination of skills in client leadership and commercial growth strategy and business development, which will be invaluable to our Network as we look to build on the new business momentum we achieved in 2024. Over the last three years our network has changed massively, expanding into new specialist areas so that we can in turn better support our own clients marketing transformation. I’m excited to see how Kim will help our existing clients and future clients realise the full potential of these capabilities as they (and we) look to grow in 2025 and beyond.”
On her appointment as chief growth and business development officer, James said, “As the Network has evolved and competition between agencies continues to be fierce, we need to ensure we double down on customer centricity, putting client growth at the heart of our growth strategy to improve our propositions, M&A strategy, product development and organic growth. I’m also excited to seize this opportunity to bring more of our amazing talent into the pitching sphere, harnessing and building out what is already proving to be a powerful and winning formula for pitch success across HMN.”
