Laura Aldington departs Host/Havas
Host/Havas CEO Laura Aldington has announced her departure from the agency she first joined in 2007.
Aldington also serves as deputy chair of the Advertising Council of Australia, a position she will continue in.
The news follows the departure of fellow Havas stablemate Simone Gupta, who announced in November that she would be stepping down as Havas PR CEO, with the group indicating it had no plans to replace the role.
Notable work for the agency during Aldington’s time there included ‘Crime Interrupted’, a modern recruitment campaign for the Australian Federal Police which was awarded at Cannes, D&AD, One Show, and LIAs was well as ‘Ol’au Palau’.
Aldington joined the agency in 2007 before leaving to join Anomaly in New York for two years in 2010. She returned to Host Sydney after that as managing director before becoming CEO in 2017.
“It’s been such a difficult decision to step away from a business I’ve called home for so many years,” Aldington said in a statement. “I only feel able to do so because it’s in such great shape, with an established, world-class leadership team, an enviable culture, a dream client list, and an exciting body of work both in the market and in the pipeline. It’s time for someone else to craft the next chapter whilst I write an exciting new story of my own. It’s been an amazing journey from start up to grown up and I couldn’t be prouder of the special agency I leave behind, or more energised about what the future holds for me.”
Havas Village was last year awarded the highly sought after global creative, CX/digital and media accounts for Tourism Fiji, with Host/Havas last month launching a new brand platform for the tourism body.
“Laura is an absolute force and we have benefited across the Village from the boundless energy she brings to everything she does,” said Virginia Hyland, CEO Havas Media Group. “She has been a huge support to me personally since I joined the group two years ago, and I can’t wait to watch what she does next.”
The agency says it will announce a new CEO shortly.
Aldington’s resignation comes during what has been an unusually busy start to the year in agency land, with major movements seen across all corners of the industry.
Less than one week in, 2023 saw the exit of Howatson+Company chief creative officer Levi Slavin, as well as the departure of Australia Post CMO Amber Collins. The trend continued with the acquisition of Sefiani Communications Group by global communications and digital marketing agency Clarity Global Group, shortly before Anthony Gregorio stepped down as Saatchi & Saatchi CEO, replaced by Publicis’ bespoke Lexus team MD, Patrick Rowe. Last week, CHEP Network CEO Justin Hind announced his departure as he prepares to open his second independent agency with wife Dominique Hind, and news dropped yesterday that Adam Donnelly would depart Capgemini for a role as head of strategy at digital agency Orange Line. These are just some of the many movements seen in the industry in the first five weeks of the year.
