Maurice Saatchi vacates advertising agency he co-founded
Lord Maurice Saatchi recently resigned from M&C Saatchi, an advertising firm he co-founded. He resigned from the company alongside three of his fellow directors – Lord Michael Dobbs, Sir Michael Peat and Lorna Tilbian.
Their resignation, according to The Drum, followed a year of financial turmoil of profit warnings, lost clients and a “cock-up in the accounts department”.
Jeremy Sinclair, chairman of M&C Saatchi, said in a statement that the company had accepted the resignation of the directors. He added that new “independent directors” would be appointed to “reconstruct” the company’s board.
The chairman stated that the board would be mandated to conduct a full review of all aspects of M&C Saatchi governance.
“We are determined to restore the operational performance and profitability of the business and are already implementing all of the recommendations set out in the PwC report we announced last week,” The Drum quoted Sinclair to have said in the statement.
The advertising company, which has been operating since 2015, issued its second profit warning of the last week (4 December). NatWest, which contributed a significant chunk of revenue to the agency, had moved its advertising account from M&C Saatchi to The&Partnership the week before.
Meanwhile, August saw PwC discovered a series of historical “misstatements” in the company’s accounts, including an “overstated accrued income” of £2.6m. In total, the company was pushed to reaccount for roughly £6.5m on its balance sheet.
The self-declared ‘biggest independent creative agency in the world’ operates in almost 30 markets. Alongside its flagship shop the company also owns the likes of Lida, MCD Partners and The Source.
Chief executive David Kershaw, founding partner Bill Muirhead, chief financial officer Mickey Kalifa and finance director Andy Blackstone are still listed as directors on the firm’s Company House page, alongside Sinclair.
Source: The Drum
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