Peter Gummer, who turns 72 on Aug. 24, is stepping down from the helm of UK's Huntsworth, the PR firm dependent on Britain and the Continent for nearly 70 percent of its revenues.
He said the move coincides with progress made on Huntsworth's investment program and an uptick in the global economy.
Gummer has targeted growth in the US, Asia and Middle East along with digital development to spark the firm's bottom line performance.
A search for his replacement is on.
Chairman Paul Myners called Gummer "a hugely respected figure in PR" who "has built Huntsworth into a group of leading global constituencies."
He's delighted that post-Huntsworth Gummer will stay involved with the firm by supporting it with his "high value relationships."
Gummer is a good friend of UK Prime Minister David Cameron and a veteran of John Major's Conservative Party government.
Huntsworth's No. 2, Sally Withey, is to return in the fall from sick leave taken to recover from a back injury.
London PR man Matthew Freud, who considers Gummer "one of the genuine founders of the industry" acquired a three percent stake in Huntsworth last month.
China's BlueFocus owns about 20 percent of Huntsworth.
Meanwhile, Gummer reported a 21.8 percent dive in first-half operating profit to $13.2M on a six percent dip in revenues to $139.6M.
Profit at flagship Grayling plunged 47.3 percent to $4.8M on a 9.6 percent drop in revenues to $61M.
Grayling CEO Pete Pedersen called the first-half "challenging," but believes its plan to expand outside its home base is on track.
He anticipates continued improvement during the second-half and "further acceleration in 2015."
Huntsworth Health chalked up flat revenues of $49M and an 8.1 dip in profit to $9.5M.
Edelman is providing communications support to Panama’s Ministry of Commerce and Industries under an agreement capped at $97,100 per month.
Ballard Partners has recruited State Department veteran Matt Bryza as a senior policy advisor.
Teneo has extended its contract with the Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation for an additional four months to July 31, adding another $1.8M in fees to the New York firm’s coffers.
The Syrian Kurdish militia recruits Jim Dornan Strategies to press Congress for continued support in their battle against ISIS and Syrian president Bashar Assad.
The Government of Hungary has hired Strategic Improvisation Inc. to generate positive media coverage and combat negative press coverage of the Central European country. (6 reader comments)
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