Bastion Shine, a New Zealand business under the Bastion umbrella, has announced a change in leadership. Toby Sellers has been promoted to the role of CEO, succeeding Simon Curran who is stepping down after a 20-year tenure to pursue a new opportunity in the U.S. Sellers will report to Cheuk Chiang, CEO, ANZ for Bastion.

Sellers joined Bastion Shine in 2022 as Managing Director of the Creative Business. With 25 years of industry experience, Sellers has worked in New Zealand and the UK with leading global companies. His career began at DDB Aotearoa, moved to DDB London (now Adam & Eve DDB), and included time with Havas and McCann. In 2011, Sellers returned to New Zealand and joined FCB where he spent 11 years in senior roles and was promoted to Managing Director in 2019. Sellers is known for building high-performing work cultures and long-term client partnerships.

"Toby’s expertise and strong leadership will be critical as we grow, diversify our business, forge stronger client connections, and deliver our ambition of being the best network in New Zealand (and the world). He has a passion for innovation, client success and love for the work and we are thrilled to have him take the helm,” said Cheuk Chiang, Bastion CEO, ANZ.

Simon Curran co-founded Bastion Shine with Lucien Law in 2005 and led the business to expand into new services and markets. Curran will remain a shareholder and a non-executive board member of the Bastion Group.

"I’m super proud of the journey and consider myself incredibly lucky to work with the calibre of people I have over the last 20 years,” said Simon Curran, outgoing CEO of Bastion Shine.

"We are deeply grateful for Simon’s extraordinary dedication and leadership and want to acknowledge the incredible journey and contribution he has made to building the successful business we are today. His unwavering commitment and entrepreneurial spirit have left and will continue to leave an indelible mark on all of us,” added Cheuk Chiang, Bastion CEO, ANZ.

Sellers is looking forward to the challenge of his new role. "I’m excited by this opportunity. I have big shoes to fill: Simon has done a fantastic job leading the agency, creating a high-performing, entrepreneurial culture and mindset that has attracted top talent and clients. I want to build on this legacy as we enter, what I believe to be, a dynamic and complex time for our industry that will fundamentally transform how we work with clients and engage with their audiences. From insight generation to content creation and even more personalised audience engagement, we will have a raft of new capabilities to help clients capitalise on these new technologies. I feel extremely fortunate to be leading the agency through this transformational period.” said Toby Sellers, new CEO of Bastion Shine.