Gravity Road Appoints Sarah Ellis as Managing Director

Gravity Road has hired Sainsbury’s former Head of Marketing Strategy, Sarah Ellis, as its new Managing Director. The appointment also marks Ellis’s return to the industry following a break for maternity leave, and she joins as the company continues to expand its senior management team.

With extensive experience working at major brands, including Boots and Barclays, Ellis comes on board following a strong 2017 for Gravity Road, which saw it win new global accounts and extend on work from its existing client base.

One of Ellis’ key objectives’ will be to further diversify Gravity Road’s portfolio of international brands and develop its offerings in different markets, further establishing the company’s position as a leading creative business across content and marketing innovation.

In 2017, Ellis was selected by Management Today as one the Power Part Time Top 50, which recognises outstanding business leaders working flexibly. At Gravity Road she will continue with her flexible working as she continues to lead Amazing If, a career coaching business company she co-founded.

Ellis is also a previous winner of the WACL Future Leaders Award and an alumni of the Marketing Academy, where she is now part of the advisory board and has also been chair of the judging panel for the IPA CPD Gold Awards.

“Gravity Road’s role in helping marketers transform brand building through more progressive behaviour around content & tech is growing in scale. Sarah brings something unique to this: front-line experience from within big brands,” said Mark Eaves, Co-founder of Gravity Road.

Sarah Ellis adds, “I’m excited to be joining Gravity Road, a growing and ambitious company with a brilliantly talented and diverse team. I’m passionate about nurturing and developing the next generation of talent, which it has in abundance alongside an incredibly experienced senior team.”

“Sarah’s energy and ideas are infectious. She gets big organisations but she also gets start-up culture. Her industry reputation for creating & inspiring a new generation of communication professionals sits perfectly with Gravity Road’s ethos,” added Mark Boyd, co-founder of Gravity Road.

Ellis’s appointment follows a number of recent senior management hires including Seb Royce as Executive Creative Director, Duncan Snowden as Director of Distribution and Tech, Samirah Ravin as Commercial Director and Joanna Osborn as Operations Director.