The Royals makes cuts after Deliveroo exits Australia; Stu Turner also resigns
Independent creative shop, The Royals has made a number of roles redundant following Deliveroo’s recent local closure, Mumbrella can reveal.
A spokesperson for the agency told Mumbrella: “Regrettably, we had to let some people go as a result of Deliveroo exiting Australia. It’s an unfortunate consequence of being in business. Deliveroo was a significant client and this was an unexpected event.”
It’s understood there were five roles made redundant, as it said the headcount now sits around 40 across both its Melbourne and Sydney offices.
The agency’s ECD, Stu Turner has also resigned after a three-year stretch at the agency in order to pursue another opportunity, which the agency said was unrelated to the redundancies.
“We’re disappointed to see him go but we’re thrilled he’s embarking on the next step of his career. He’ll have more to say about that soon.”
Turner joined The Royals in 2019 as ECD after a short stint at VML in Cape Town. Previously he was the group executive creative director at DDB, and executive creative director at Havas, being recognised by various award bodies across his career.
Turrner is departing for a new opportunity
Sebastian Vizor, who joined the agency in 2019 as deputy-ECD, and was later appointed ECD remains in his role.
“Our focus in the coming months is to continue to create work that brings about unnatural change for our clients, with some strong campaigns in the works for 2023.”
The Royals won the creative remit for delivery service Deliveroo this year, however last month the company opted to pull out of the local market before any campaign work was released.
Deliveroo’s exit came as a shock locally, as Australian CEO, Ed McManus told creditors this week the decision was “purely based on economic grounds”, as its parent company had lost confidence in its ability to regain market share from competitors Uber, DoorDash, and Menulog.
The Royals’ existing retainer contract with Mercedes-Benz Vans was also brought to an end this year as part of a global alignment. The agency said this did not reflect the local relationship, however was out of its control.
The Royals have won a number of other clients or project work this year including DON Smallgoods, Nexba, Guide Dogs Australia, and Smartpay.
This week the Mumbrellacast panel spoke about the market conditions leading into 2023 with cuts across the industry, and whether the talent crisis will roll on.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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