Kantar CFO named deputy CEO

Griffiths (pictured), previously chief operating officer and chief financial officer at ITV, joined Kantar as chief financial officer at the start of the year, following the company’s partial sale to private equity firm Bain Capital.

Griffiths will continue in the CFO role, but his responsibilities are being expanded to include leading the executive committee in the the day-to-day running of Kantar until a new chief executive has been appointed.

The company said it has created the role to provide ‘continuity of leadership'.  

At the end of 2019, following the completion of WPP’s sale of Kantar, the company’s long-standing chief executive Eric Salama announced his intention to step down when a successor had been appointed. In February, he departed the role with immediate effect and was placed on gardening leave until the end of June. 

After stepping down as chief exec, Salama was initially set to take up a non-executive director position, but in a statement posted on Twitter on Sunday ( 28^th June), he said he is no longer joining the board. 

Salama wrote: "30th June will be my last official day with Kantar in any capacity and I will be making a clean break from the business that I had led for the past 18 years."

Salama has taken up the position of chairman of the board of trustees at Comic Relief, effective from 1^st July.  

A permanent successor to Salama is yet to be appointed and Kantar does not have a set timeframe for this. 

Adam Crozier, formerly chief executive of ITV, was appointed as Kantar’s non-executive chairman in February.

Crozier said: "The past months have highlighted the importance of strong leadership and continuity for every business. The new role of deputy CEO strengthens Kantar’s operational capabilities in the short-term as we navigate our own recovery from the economic crisis and in the long-term as we implement our transformation agenda.

"As we observed when Ian joined the business in January, he brings a wealth of experience, including acting in similar roles at both ITV and Emap, and great track record in delivering transformations and strong returns, so he is a natural fit for this expanded leadership responsibility."