Connecting Plots has appointed Craig Page as the independent agency's new Strategy Partner. It comes as Tim Collier exits the business after six years to take up a role as Head of Strategy at Cummins&Partners.

Page, the founder of strategic consultancy WeirdWorks, has held strategy leadership positions at Saatchi & Saatchi, CX Lavender, VMLY&R and R/GA. He will be joining the Connecting Plots leadership team alongside Client Service Director, Emma McJury; Creative Operations Director, Sarah Miller; and Creative Partners, Matt Geersen and John Gault.

Page has a proven track record of growing brands and transforming organisations through the integration of brand, creative, channel and experience strategy, having worked with clients including Westpac, Australian Defence Force, NBN, NRMA, Pizza Hut, Colgate, Arnott’s, McDonald's, Wine Australia, Telstra, Rip Curl and Google.

"Craig is highly-regarded and comes with a wealth of knowledge that will certainly help grow our clients' businesses and evolve the Connecting Plots service offering,” said Connecting Plots Co-Founder & CEO, Tom Phillips. “The work that Craig has been doing with his own consultancy, WeirdWorks, marry perfectly into our growth ambitions and we're thrilled that he'll be bringing this offering into Connecting Plots.”

“The pace since founding WeirdWorks last year has been insane, so this chance to join forces is a perfectly-timed, win-win-win opportunity - for Connecting Plots to offer clients’ holistic brand thinking across their entire ecosystems, for WeirdWorks to offer clients’ the ability to put their strategic consulting into practice, and for me to enjoy working with this awesome team of brilliantly-talented and fun-slash-weird-in-a-good-way people," said Page.

Phillips said Collier's exit was "bittersweet". "Tim’s been with us since day dot, weathered many storms and shared in plenty of the successes we’ve had along the way,” he said. "He’s left an indelible mark on Connecting Plots and is a major factor in its success to date.”

Co-Founder & CCO, Dave Jansen, said: “6 years is a long time in this game. We want to thank Tim for his commitment, loyalty and brilliance over that time,” adds Jansen. “I’ve learnt a lot from him, he’s become a good mate and he’s shared A LOT of stories… I look forward to having a beer with him in the future and not talking about DBAs and Howard Gossage. We all wish him every success in his next role."

Collier said he had an excellent experience during his 6 years at Connecting Plots. "When I started we were a very small team and it’s been amazing being part of the growth of that agency. Moving to cummins&partners really is just a step up along that same journey. I felt ready to do that and it’s a great opportunity to work with some incredible people."