You need to know: 

• A government relations specialist, Les Timar, has been appointed CEO of the $500m Clemenger BBDO group from January next year in an unconventional move.
• Robert Morgan will remain chairman .
• It was the role former CHEP CEO Chris Howatson was long touted as a frontrunner before splitting for a start-up agency now facing turbulence.
• Morgan said although revenues were down 7% to $530m for the 12 months to December 2020, this year was tracking well above.

The 23-year stint for Rob Morgan as CEO and chairman of the Clemenger BBDO group will end in January next year, replaced by an unconventional candidate in Les Timar, who leads Clemenger’s government relations, corporate affairs and financial relations unit, GRACosway.

Chris Howatson was long touted as a frontrunner before he split, the former Clemenger’s CHE Proximity CEO instead starting his own group, Howatson + White. 

Howatson’s firm has already been rebadged less than six months after launch and is facing early turbulence following the sudden exit of Howatson’s partner Ant White under a cloak of silence and an industry busting with conjecture on why. 

Howatson has gone to ground since this AFR report and Morgan was in no mood to contemplate Howatson’s future at Clemenger, nor the possibilities of buying Howatson’s business at some point.

“I don’t speculate on those things,” Morgan told Mi3. “That’s the past, we wish Chris the best.” Asked if there was any interest in taking a stake or acquiring Howatson’s breakaway group at some stage, Morgan said “no, we’ve got two market leaders in Clemenger BBDO and CHEP. We don’t need another agency brand.”

Morgan also defended the executive team that took over from Howatson and White after their shock exit. “I couldn’t be happier with the leadership of [CEO] Justin Hind and his new creative partner Gavin McLeod. I couldn’t be happier with the way that business is going. It’s in very, very good hands.”

Morgan, the last senior executive to have worked under former chairman Peter Clemenger and from whom he took over chair duties in 1998, was also robust in defending his successor Les Timar as CEO.

It’s an entirely unconventional move for the business founded in 1946 and steeped in advertising and media.

Les Timar co-founded government relations and lobbying practice GRA, which has since merged with corporate and financial relations firm Cosway under Clemenger ownership. 

Another corporate and financial relations exec, Chris Savage, was the former Chief Operating Officer at rival WPP AUNZ but Timar’s rise to CEO of a major diversified communications group is unprecedented in this market. 

“I don't think you necessarily have to have a technology engineer running a technology company,” Morgan said. “I don't think you necessarily need a scientist running a biotech company. I think you want a very, very fine executive and a leader who understands the business and can project that business into the future. That's precisely what we've got in Les. So I couldn't be more confident. I couldn't be more relaxed. And I couldn't be more excited about the future of the company, especially as we move into new areas.”

Timar has been with Clemenger for more than two decades and sits on its board. 

Morgan confirmed two acquisitions were imminent in e-commerce and management consulting and signalled this calendar year is tracking strongly for the group in revenue and profit over 2020. For the 12 months to December 2020, Clemenger’s revenues were $530m, a decline of 7 per cent over 2019, and profit was $49m, down 2 per cent over the previous 12 months. Morgan said there was a broad pick-up across most of Clemenger’s portfolio in 2021, except field and event marketing, which has been brutalised by lockdowns.

Morgan will remain as group chairman when Timar takes over early next year. 

“It's basically time to pass on the baton,” he said. “I've had a very fortunate run and I've been extremely lucky to be in the role I have and had brilliant people working with me. I wanted a proper handover, not a one-minute-to-midnight thing. It is something I've been thinking about. I'm not going to not do things, but I think it's time to hand over.”