Garry Lace, the former chief executive of TBWA, Grey London and Lowe London, has taken on the new role of managing director of media owner Admedia.
Starting next month, he has a brief to build senior relationships with big-brand advertisers and their media, creative and out-of-home agencies.
Lace, who left Lowe London in 2006, is also non-executive chairman of integrated marketing agency Intelligent Marketing as part of his role in advising private equity ventures.
His new job will include examining the growth of not only existing business areas but also complimentary areas such as experiential and mobile – including opportunities for acquisitions.
He will take a significant equity stake in the business, which was launched by current joint chief executives Philip Vecht and Jonathan Naggar in 1995. It has plans to more than double its size in three years following increased demand from leading advertisers.
It currently operates a range of media in 200 shopping centres, all 131 motorway services and over 1,500 nightclubs, bars, restaurants and health clubs.
Lace said: “Over the last couple of years I have been working on private-equity deals across the media sector and became interested in the scale and opportunity presented by non-traditional media. In this process one company stood out for its combination of quality product, entrepreneurial management and growth potential. So impressed was I by Philip, Jonathan and the Admedia team that I decided to join them and take up the opportunity myself rather than telling others about it. I can’t wait to get started.”
Vecht added: “Garry has an exceptional mix of corporate, agency, media and private-equity experience and contacts, all wrapped up in the most ebullient, charming and charismatic package. His joining underlines the potential Admedia has to expand into new markets and deliver new and exciting media vehicles for advertisers.”
Lace’s decision to join the business comes just weeks after Marc Mendoza, managing partner at Havas-owned Media Planning Group, joined as non-executive director. Jonathan Lewis, the former managing director of Clear Channel Billboards, became chairman of Admedia in early 2008, replacing Stevie Spring who relinquished the post on becoming chief executive of Future Publishing.
Lace started his career as a graduate trainee at Saatchi & Saatchi in 1990, becoming a board account director at Euro RSCG by 1995. He was subsequently a board director at Simons Palmer before becoming joint managing director of TBWA in 2001.