STOCKHOLM — Ericsson’s chief marketing and communications officer, Helena Norrman, is leaving the telecoms leader after 21 years to return to consultancy, the Holmes Report has learned.

She will be a partner at global strategic communications firm Kekst CNC and will also act as managing director at the firm’s Nordic branch, JKL.

In her current role, Norrman heads global marketing and corporate relations, including branding, communications, sustainability and public affairs, and is a member of Ericsson’s executive team. Norrman will remain in post at Ericsson while a successor is sought, and for a handover period; she officially finishes work for the company at the end of June.

It will be Norrman’s second time at JKL: she worked at the agency for two years immediately before joining Ericsson in 1998. Her roles there included head of internal communications and chief communications officer, before she was made CMCO in 2014.

Kekst CNC was formed in late 2018 when two of Publicis Groupe’s strategic communications firms, Kekst and CNC, combined into a global team of more than 250 working across offices in New York, London, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Brussels, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Stockholm.

Bernhard Meising, co-chief executive officer of Kekst CNC, said: “There are very few communicators in Europe with Helena’s scope of experience. Her experience in supporting growth agendas as well as company transformation through effective communications is at the core of what Kekst CNC does for our clients on a global scale. Helena will contribute decisively to our ambition to build the leading global strategic communication consultancy.”

Norrman told the Holmes Report: “My role will be a dual one: building the global strengths of the network and making sure the Stockholm team is integrated with the global team and contributes to global clients. In the corporate world, communications supports the business, and I’m looking forward to being part of an organisation where communications is the core business. I wasn’t looking for a new job but it came looking for me.”

The current MD and partner of JKL, Maria Grimberg, is leaving the firm after nearly nine years to join NCC, one of the leading construction and property development companies in the Nordic region, as director of communications.

She said: “I have never had a single boring day during my years at JKL and am grateful for the opportunity to work with so many professional clients, smart and fun team members and in many high-stakes and professionally challenging situations. Some months ago I decided that it was time for a change and I really look forward to a new chapter.”

Meising said: “Maria is one of the most impressive advisors I had the honour to work with. We are obviously sad to see her leave, but we respect her desire for a change after such a long time.”