Vicki Maguire was brought in as a key player kicking off a whole new era at Havas London. Recruited in 2020 by former CEO Xav Rees as part of a dream team, they initially had a lot of success – most notably securing Asda as a client and producing some memorable Christmas ads for the brand featuring (separately) Buddy the Elf and Michael Bublé.
But Asda is now with Lucky Generals, Rees is CEO of AMV BBDO, and Maguire is leaving too, as reported in Campaign. Whether or not she has a job to go to is unconfirmed.
Maguire worked at Grey London for ten years before moving to Havas, and has also done stints at Wieden + Kenndy, Mojo Sydney and StrawberryFrog. She famously started out in fashion and has won respect and affection across the industry for her outspoken views and support of women.
Rees and Maguire are not the only big names to leave Havas in the last year or so. CEO James Fox left in January after three years in the role; Elliot Harris, creative partner and global ECD for Reckitt recently quit after ten years; chief client officer Catherine Peacock left in May after six months; and in February MD Hollie Loxley moved to VML after two years.
Havas is going through a period of transition after a demerger from Vivendi and talk of M&A deals in the pipeline, but it seems unlikely that all these departures are part of chairman and CEO Yannick Bollore’s grand plan.
