NI-based Smarts appoints first European CEO to lead ambitious expansion plans

The company, which includes a portfolio of clients from across the island of Ireland, has a total of 130 staff, almost 100 of whom operate from its headquarters in Co. Down.

A true success story and now one of the island’s largest comms agencies, Smarts has experienced growth in recent years. In the past 12 months alone, it has increased its NI workforce by 34% while continuing to grow its offices in London, New York, Glasgow and Edinburgh, all of whom service a mix of local and global clients.

Greg will be based in Smarts’ London office and will drive the strategy for its European operations, specifically looking to grow the business in GB and mainland Europe. He will work closely with Pippa Arlow, Smarts’ Global CEO, as well as the agency’s existing management team.

One of PR Week’s Top 10 fastest-growing consumer agencies, the business works with global brands including Diageo, Bosch and Zalando as well as well-known local brands such as Bank of Ireland, Maxol and Bushmills Irish Whiskey.

After Smarts delivered a 55% rise in revenue last year, Jones will now be responsible for accelerating a further step-change in the agency’s European growth and profile working with the global leadership team to build deeper specialisms in core areas including creative, strategy, earned media, content creation and social activity.

Pippa explained: “This is a huge milestone in Smarts’ history. For more than 20 years we’ve been telling engaging stories that make brands famous, changing thinking and behaviours. Following a period of huge success, we want to build on this momentum further by accelerating growth across our European business, and in Greg we’ve found an experienced, driven leader who shares our passion in using creativity to bring big ideas to life.”

Greg added: “Smarts is a brilliant agency and I’m excited by the opportunity to help turbo charge its growth both in Great Britain and across Europe. Pippa and the Smarts leadership team have long recognised the value of telling powerful stories through a combination of earned, creative and social and I’m looking forward to evolving this approach even further.”