Posterscope, the Dentsu Aegis out-of-home (OOH) specialist, has appointed Stephen Whyte as its UK chief executive.

Whyte will start in early November, heading up Posterscope, psLIVE and PSI UK.

The current chief executive, Annie Rickard, will move into the role of UK chairman, allowing her to focus on international growth across both psLIVE and Posterscope Worldwide, the company said.

Rickard said: “[Whyte] has all of the characteristics necessary to succeed in the media sector but crucially he has the experience and vision required to lead the business into the future.”

Whyte joins from Netventure Consulting, a company he launched four years ago to provide strategic and commercial advice to digital media, marketing and ad tech businesses.

Before setting up his own consultancy he worked as chief executive of Parity Digital, the marketing communications company. In 2009, he joined Acxiom as chief executive, Europe.

He has also held senior roles as managing director and chief executive of Leo Burnett and spent five years as chief executive of McCann Erickson.

Whyte has also been a board advisor to digital agency Profero and sat on the media advisory board of corporate finance advisory firm Wyvern Partners.

He said: “I wasn’t looking for a change but the opportunity to lead Posterscope at such a dynamic and exciting time for the OOH industry was impossible to turn down.”