Matthew Hook, the chief strategy officer at Carat UK, has been promoted to managing director – while Dan Hagen, currently the head of planning, is set to take on Hook’s previous role.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Carat said the promotions are in response to a good three years for the company with “record numbers of awards and significant new business wins.”
Hook will report to Tracy De Groose, CEO of Carat UK, who said the new MD – known as ‘Hooky’ – was a proven leader across Carat and Aegis, “as well as one of the best strategists in the business.”
Hagen’s new role as chief strategy officer will see him take responsibility for the quality of Carat’s work as well as oversee the planning, insight, data and strategy teams.
“Dan is a leader in convergent planning and has a track record of growing businesses,” De Groose said. “This makes him the ideal champion for our focus on business value and he is vital to Carat’s future.”
Commenting on his appointment, Hook added: “Carat has significantly developed its business over the last few years to become much more strategic and collaborative, and we want to take this to a new level in the years to come as the market continues to transform.
“This is only possible if you have a thriving culture where talented people are developed and supported in doing brilliant work, and this is what I want to build at Carat. We already have a strong team in place, both within Carat and our sister agencies, and we are all thoroughly looking forward to the challenge.”
