HAVAS Group has appointed HAVAS UK's Richard Clarke as its new Chief Growth and Client Officer for Australia, joining the HAVAS Australia leadership team to drive cross-village growth, incubate new service-based propositions, and foster new business opportunities.

Clarke, who has relocated to Australia for the role, will report directly to James Wright, Group CEO, HAVAS Creative Network ANZ and Global Chair, HAVAS PR Network. He brings with him a wealth of experience from his time at HAVAS UK, where he served as Managing Director for HAVAS Red London. During his tenure, HAVAS Red London saw significant growth, tripling in size under his leadership.

"I am delighted and privileged to have been given the opportunity to move within HAVAS to Australia. We have a world-class roster of agencies, talent, clients and opportunity and am already blown away by the incredible energy and ambition there is within the HAVAS Village Australia. I am looking forward to working with outstanding leaders like James and the senior management teams and forge the next chapter of growth for the Group," Clarke said of.

Before joining HAVAS, Clarke held a senior partner position at Ogilvy UK. His career highlights include managing the award-winning NHS ‘Missing Type’ blood donation campaign, which was named ‘Campaign of the Decade’ by PRWeek. HAVAS Red was also recognised as EMEA Regional Midsize Agency of the Year earlier this year.

"Richard did an unprecedented job growing the HAVAS Red UK business during his time there, as well as building phenomenal relationships with creative, media, digital and health teams across the HAVAS Village in London. He is an excellent operator, brilliant with clients and naturally brings agencies and teams together. Having him in this newly created position in Australia will ensure we are even better set up to service cross agency clients and grow," Wright said.