People: Croda; Jaywing; CDS; and more

The Board of chemicals company Croda International has appointed Julie Kim as non-executive director.

She will join the Board with effect from 1 September 2021.

Kim has over 25 years of experience in international leadership positions in the healthcare industry, and is currently president, Plasma-Derived Therapies at Takeda Pharmaceutical, a global biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan.

Her geographic experience covers both global and regional roles, focused on Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Prior to joining Takeda in 2019, her previous executive positions included roles such as head of international market access and global franchise head of multiple therapeutic areas at Shire, Baxalta and Baxter.

She also sits on the industry board for the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association and started her career in healthcare consulting.

On joining the Croda Board, Kim will also be appointed to the Audit, Nomination and Remuneration Committees.

Anita Frew, chairman of East Yorkshire-headquartered Croda, said: “I am delighted to welcome Julie to the Croda Board.

“Julie’s outstanding healthcare sector experience, her strong P&L experience, and commercial R&D and manufacturing knowledge will be of enormous benefit to Croda.

“She also brings even greater diversity to the Board, in terms of gender, ethnicity, nationality and tenure, as well as her tremendous skills and experiences as a serving executive.

“Her appointment supports our strategic plans to build our Life Sciences business and brand.

“With our focus on drug, vaccine and crop delivery systems, Julie is ideally placed to help deliver our ambition in these fast-growing markets.”

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Following several new significant client wins including Rohan and La Redoute, Sheffield and Leeds-based integrated agency, Jaywing, has bolstered its retail team with five new hires. 

Taking up roles are Nick Robinson, Paddy Cavanagh, Chris Dowse, Jade Cole and Scarlett Whittell.

Robinson, who has been recruited as account director, has 16 years marketing experience across both client-side and agency businesses in retail, sport, FMCG and e-commerce.

Formerly senior account director at Savvy Marketing, he managed clients including Adidas and Reebok, and has also worked freelance for agencies including The Marketing Store and Ear to the Ground where he managed the New Balance Football account.

Hired as senior account manager, Cavanagh joined the graduate scheme at M&C Saatchi in 2018, rising from account executive to senior account manager in just three years.

During that time, he worked across a broad spectrum of clients, most notably on NatWest’s award-winning ‘Freddie vs Freddie’ campaign. 

At Jaywing he will lead the delivery of insightful, targeted campaigns for a range of retail clients.

Dowse, a new senior strategist at the agency, has worked in the industry for 10 years in a mix of agency and client-side strategy and planning roles including Center Parcs and most recently Annica Digital. 

As senior strategist, she will inform media buying strategy and test and learn programs for clients, as well as creative strategy and proposition development.

New account manager, Cole, joins Jaywing with five years agency experience gained at Generate UK, Northern Media and Front, where she had hands-on roles in digital marketing, creative and branding projects.

Her latest role at will see her leading on campaigns for an array of retail clients including La Redoute.

Whittell, who has been hired as an account manager, has five years’ experience in digital marketing.

Her breadth of expertise ranges from client management to creating digitally optimised content for global brands.

Formerly an account manager at Stickyeyes, she worked on the Formula One sponsorship campaign for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2020 with Etihad Airways. 

Andrew Fryatt, CEO at Jaywing, said: “We are so pleased to welcome all five of these new starters to Jaywing.

“There’s so much knowledge between them as well as decades of experience and they’re already making an impact in our retail team.”

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Strategic communications agency CDS has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Adrian Odds – who takes on the newly-created role of marketing and innovation director.

Under his new remit, he will lead the marketing function for the Leeds-headquartered firm as well as ensuring the agency is well placed to support its clients as they continue to transform – developing new products, services and partnerships.

Joining from his previous position as director of strategy and market propositions for Communisis Ltd, Odds said: “I’m delighted to be joining CDS at this time.

“The agency has a clear position in the market and its purpose to simplify complexity and make a positive difference resonates strongly with me.

“I’m looking forward to working with the team to drive our growth aspirations across both the public and private sectors.”

Mark Gair, managing director of CDS, added: “Adrian brings a wealth of relevant experience to our team, having held previous leadership posts across marketing and business development.

“He is passionate about ensuring brands understand their purpose and values, while focusing on customer engagement to drive sustainable growth – and we’re looking forward to seeing his work.”

Odds’ appointment is one of several significant new hires across CDS as the agency gears up for growth.

The news also coincides with the launch of a brand-new behavioural insight division – designed to drive inclusivity and accessibility throughout the private and public sector.

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Leeds-based Corecom Consulting has appointed Gemma Robinson as operations and HR manager, further strengthening its management team.

The hire follows a successful year for Corecom in which it has expanded into Europe and is set to smash its turnover forecast three-fold from a forecasted £1.8m to an actual £6m.

Robinson re-joins the IT recruitment company after a stint as operations manager at Leeds-based marketing agency CreativeRace, where she oversaw operations and HR.

Prior to that she spent six years on the Operations Team at Corecom where she developed extensive knowledge and expertise of all aspects of the business.

She will now play a pivotal role, taking responsibility for core aspects of the business including people, business operations, budgeting, strategy and project delivery.

Managing director Jonathan Sanderson said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome Gemma back to the team. She understands our business from the inside out and we can’t wait to get her back on board.

“With extensive experience of overseeing all aspects of business operations, she will play a pivotal role in expanding the business further and continuing to fly the flag for Women in Technology.”

Robinson added: “I am absolutely thrilled to be returning to Corecom. I have been following the business closely over the last two years and have been blown away by the way they have adapted and flexed during what has been a particularly difficult period for the industry.

“They have remained fully committed to their values and ethos around diversity, inclusion and people-centricity whilst also expanding into new European markets.

“In re-joining the team, I’m in the enviable position of pushing these agendas forward in the role of operations and HR manager. I can’t wait to get started.”