UK adspend grew 4.6% to reach £22.2bn in 2017, the eighth consecutive year of growth, according to the latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report. Here, media bosses digest the findings.

The full year advertising growth forecast for 2018 has also been upgraded by 1.4 percentage points to 4.2% growth, and a further rise of 3.8% is expected for 2019.

Alison Forrestal is appointed group managing director, as Katy Gotch takes up a new business development role, and Andrew Gabriel takes charage of Immediate TV.

According to a new digital adspend report from the IAB UK and PwC, spend on smartphone video ads rose by £476 million in 2017, an increase of 69% on the previous year.

UK broadcasters reported an excellent month with strong revenue growth across the board according to the latest agency estimates.

As global head of strategy, Shula Sinclair will be in charge of product output and strategic thinking coming out of the international client teams.

Thanks to better optimisation, UK ad viewability levels have hit their highest level since records began almost four years ago, according to ad verification firm Meetrics.

The daily market was up 0.7% between February and March, but was down -7.6% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the Sunday market had a tough month with no gains from any title.

Sutherland replaces Rick Hirst, who is moving on to a new global role within the network.

For the first time publishers and advertisers can see audience delivery across all platforms – including mobile, tablet, desktop and print.