Chris joins CTI from Oliver Agency where he most recently held the position of UK Group COO. Previously he was the UK Group MD of Oliver and MD of Dare, the digital arm within the Oliver network. He is also one of Campaign Magazine’s 40 over 40 top UK marketing professionals.
Effective 2 October, this strategic appointment marks a pivotal moment for CTI as it prepares for an exciting phase of growth. As part of the leadership transition, Chris will succeed Nick Rhind, who will assume the role of ‘Founder.’ In his new capacity, Nick will focus on mentoring the board and driving forward the extensive M&A initiatives scheduled for the group in 2024.
These changes come as part of a strategy to bolster the CTI leadership team as the business gears up for growth. This follows a multi-million pound investment from private equity firm LDC in March 2022.
Commenting on the appointment, Nick said: “CTI has grown substantially over the last 5 years and is now poised to expand further with the backing we have secured from LDC. It is therefore the right time to grow the strength and depth of our leadership team and I am delighted that Chris is joining us. His track record at Oliver speaks for itself and his softer skills as a leader are also second to none. Having Chris as part of the team will allow me to concentrate on our M&A activity that has become a significant focus for us as we grow capability to address broader client needs. Our goal is to consolidate our position as one of the UK’s leading and fastest growing end-to-end digital agencies.”
Chris adds: “I have loved my four years at Oliver. To have played a key role in an agency that routinely sees year-on-year organic growth of +25% is an incredible roller coaster ride. But now felt like the right time to take that experience and apply it in a different setting. The combination of working with private equity firm LDC and the CTI team was too good to miss. Six specialist businesses have already joined the group and further acquisitions will now follow. CTI is becoming a hive of creativity, expertly placed to support brands across the full breadth of their digital growth. We engineer rock-solid digital foundations, create effective campaign content and significantly optimise conversion at the other end. Too often agencies can only partially help brands in this space and the fact that we have strength in all areas under one roof is highly compelling, and can provide significant commercial advantage to our clients.”