Enero Group names Nike alumnus Brent Scrimshaw as new CEO
Enero – the ASX-listed holding company for agencies including BMF, Hotwire, and Orchard – has named Brent Scrimshaw as its new CEO.
Scrimshaw spent more than 18 years in marketing and management roles at Nike, and most recently was founder and CEO of sports media company Unscripted, before it was acquired by New York’s The Players Tribune at the end of 2018.
His appointment – which takes effect on 1 July – comes five months after Matthew Melhuish announced he would step down as CEO after more than eight years.
Scrimshaw will be paid $800,000 per year. He will also be entitled to a short term bonus of up to $560,000 per year if the company hits certain profit and share targets, and will be granted 1.25m share rights vesting over the next three years, which become valuable only if the current share price grows.
Scrimshaw joins from Unscriptd
“Brent has a wealth of leadership experience across marketing services on both agency and client side, has worked and lived in a number of our key geographic markets and brings a strong global perspective on building brands,” recently-appointed chair and former CEO of Carnival Cruises, Ann Sherry, said in a statement lodged to the ASX this morning.
Sherry was formerly at Carnival Cruises
“His track record in innovation combined with his entrepreneurial spirit adds another layer of expertise to our Group’s growth ambitions. On behalf of the Board, we welcome Brent and look forward to working with him.”
Sherry added that the rest of the financial year will be spent “deepening our strong client relationships during these unprecedented times and we remain confident that the Group’s balance sheet and diversification of clients and geographies will provide a great platform to grow.”
At Nike, Scrimshaw spent three years at vice president and CEO in Western Europe, chief marketing officer for the EMEA region, and held leadership roles at the brand in Europe, the US and Australia. His local experience with the shoe company saw him based out of Melbourne between 1993 and 1997, four years of which were spent as director of marketing in the Pacific region.
He also serves as an independent non-executive director of retailer Kathmandu, sports technology and data business Catapult Sports Limited, and Rhinomed Limited.
“It’s very exciting to lead Enero through its next strategic phase of growth. I have been following the Group for some time and I am confident it has the right mix of thought leadership and capability to win on a global scale,” Scrimshaw said.
“I look forward to meeting all of the teams once I commence and building on the collaborative spirit already entrenched in the Group.”
Melhuish departed Enero on 31 March after announcing his resignation in December, giving Sherry time to settle into the chair role and begin the search for his successor. After founding creative agency BMF 23 years ago and selling it to Photon Group in 2007, Melhuish took the reins at Photon in 2012, six months before it was rebranded to Enero.
The executive then went about simplifying the group’s structure, centring it around BMF, Naked Communications, Hotwire, Frank PR, and research company The Leading Edge.
In February 2018, the company acquired creative agency Orchard Marketing for a price cap of $27 million, and last year, the Naked brand was subsumed by BMF, and comms agency Precinct was absorbed into Hotwire.
In its financial results posted in February, the group recorded a half-year revenue of $68m, up 6.8%, and operating EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of $11m, up 10% from $10m. Its statutory net profit after tax was $4m, down from $6.1m the year prior.
Enero’s market capitalisation is currently $108m.
Since Melhuish’s departure, chief financial officer Brendan York and chief people and culture officer Fiona Chilcott have been acting as co-CEOs.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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