Havas Media Manchester Creates Joint-General Manager Role

Havas Media Group UK has promoted strategy partner Lucy Barnes and managing partner James Reddington to the newly-created joint-leadership position of general manager to lead Havas Media Manchester.

Barnes and Reddington have played a key role in building Havas Media Manchester into a significant player in the region following the retention of the BBC account April 2020 and with the addition of new clients including Stagecoach and Merseyside-headquartered Matalan, which has seen billings increase by 150 percent in a year.

Havas Manchester, part of Havas Media UK, has also produced a host of award-winning work for the BBC, most recently winning the Grand Prix at the Outdoor Media Awards for ‘This is our BBC’ and last year winning Campaign Media Awards for its BBC ‘I May Destroy You’ work in the ‘media and entertainment’ category.

Their remit will be to build on the positive momentum from the last 12 months to turn Havas Media Manchester into the fastest growing agency presence in the region, building a strong reputation in the market for delivering break-through work and more meaningful outcomes for its clients.  

Both will also sit on the Havas Media Group UK leadership team.

Commenting on their promotions, Patrick Affleck, CEO of Havas Media Group UK & Ireland, said: “Both Lucy and James have demonstrated masterful stewardship of the business in Manchester. They’ve played a leading role in the agency’s rapid growth in the region in the last year, most notably working brilliantly together to secure the Matalan account earlier this year. Lucy’s strategic pedigree coupled with James’ impeccable client management skills will help propel our Manchester operation forward.” 

Barnes brings to the role twenty years’ experience in strategy and planning, joining Havas Media Group as strategy partner in November 2019 where she’s set the strategic direction across all clients. For the past ten years she’s worked out of Manchester. In her career, she has worked with the likes of Lexus, Pets At Home, L’Oreal, Oxfam, Thomas Cook, Arcadia Group and most recently BBC, Matalan and Stagecoach. She is a former winner of WACL ‘future leaders award’ fund in 2010.

Reddington has thirty years’ experience working both agency and advertising sales side. Before joining Havas Media Group in December 2020, he’d spent 24 years with Carat Manchester. He was a shareholder in the then-start-up media agency Mediavest Manchester, which was acquired by Dentsu in 2011. During his time he led a number of accounts including Barratt Homes, Stagecoach, Greggs the Bakers, Manchester Airport Group and Coral.

Barnes and Reddington also previously worked together at Dentsu Aegis Network.

Barnes, said: “Nothing makes me happier than finding more disruptive and dynamic ways to solve our clients challenges. I am excited by the momentum we’ve already achieved here and what more’s to come as we attract new people and clients that want to challenge the status quo in their category.

Reddington, said: “Clients want a different option in the North to what they’ve traditionally been offered. That’s why we offer the size and scale of a major network but the service and relationship of an independent. Crucially, there’s an opportunity to adapt the overall Havas Media Group UK goals to help clients capitalise on the Manchester marketplace.”

Their promotions follow the departure of managing director Stu Lunn who’s joined digital technology consultancy Apadmi. They begin their roles immediately.