Lucky Generals Announces Two Major Internal Promotions

Lucky Generals has revamped its management line-up with two major internal promotions. 

Cressida Holmes-Smith moves up from MD to CEO, reporting into founder Helen Calcraft. She has been with the agency since 2018, joining from BBH where she was a business director and Partner on Tesco. At Lucky Generals, she soon became a client partner before being promoted to Head of Account Management and ultimately MD in 2020. She has headed up the agency’s biggest account, the Co-op, for the past five years. This year, she has also launched the agency's first work for GambleAware and The Guardian’s first-ever global campaign. 

Meanwhile, Vickie Ridley steps up from CMO to MD, reporting into Cressida. She joined the agency as an account manager in 2015 from RKCR/Y&R. In 2018 she was made Head of New Business and in 2020 she was promoted to CMO and client partner. Along the way, she has helped win and grow key accounts like Yorkshire Tea, Virgin Atlantic and Heineken's Cruzcampo. In 2021, Ridley and her team were named Corporate Communications/Marketing Team of the Year at the Campaign Awards and in 2022 and Ridley was listed as one of the top three new-business chiefs in the industry. 

The promotions come at a time when Lucky Generals continues to grow, with revenues up 20% in 2022 and new clients such as Labour, GambleAware, Heineken and Drambuie joining the fold. In the most recent Campaign Awards, the agency was shortlisted for Agency of the Year for the seventh time in the past eight years. 

Lucky Generals founder Helen Calcraft said, “We couldn’t be happier to promote these two exceptional women. They have grown with us, challenged us and made us better time and time again. They know our culture inside out and continue to build it and develop it. So there’s simply nobody better to carry the torch forward as we continue to grow. On behalf of all three founders, Cress and Vickie we salute you!”