LONDON — Five-year-old creative B2B agency Fight or Flight has created a new leadership structure, naming co-founder Charlie Meredith-Hardy as its first CEO to spearhead its next stage of growth.

Meredith-Hardy (pictured, centre), who co-founded the agency in 2020 with fellow former Weber Shandwick tech leaders Joe Walton (right) and David Woodward (left), will now lead Fight or Flight’s 60-strong global team, with a focus on sector diversification and geographic expansion.

At the same time, Walton becomes chief client officer, focusing on deepening partnerships with a client roster that includes AMEX GBT, Expedia, LinkedIn, Nokia, and Motorway, while Woodward now takes up the role of executive creative director.

The move follows a year of 48% revenue growth for the agency – recently named as one of the Best 50 Agencies in the UK by PRovoke Media – bringing total earnings to £6.9 million across its UK and North American operations.

Fight or Flight’s track record includes multi-awarded campaigns such as ‘Fifty Shades of Ginger’ for Roland DG, ‘Big Hero Snitch’ for Medius and ‘CPR Bra’ for St John’s Ambulance.

Meredith-Hardy said the agency had already evolved in five years “from scrappy start-up to a multi-market agency working with some of the best B2B brands on the planet”. Speaking to PRovoke Media, he said: “We’re all equal partners and will remain so, but the time had come to specialise and formalise our roles and give focus to the areas that will take us to the next level.

"As CEO, my focus is going to be on looking at inorganic growth opportunities as we look to expand our footprint in new and different disciplines and sectors, and expand into new territories and markets.”

On Walton and Woodward’s new roles, Meredith-Hardy said: “Joe is so passionate and skilled at building deep relationships with clients, and applying amazing quality control. He’ll be looking at service excellence as well as opening up new ways to work with our terrific list of B2B brand clients and do new and interesting things with them.

“We’ve made a bit of a name for ourselves in producing B2B fame-making campaigns in the UK and increasingly in North America, and none of that happens by accident. Dave and the creative team are relentlessly focused on doing cool B2B work day in day out, so formalising that ECD role will help to unlock more opportunities with clients and prospects, so we can do more fun, cheeky creativity with B2B brands that changes how they are perceived in the market.”

Of the agency’s plans for the future, Meredith-Hardy added: “We don’t want to put a ceiling on our ambition. We’re having a good time and excited about the opportunities ahead: we have a clear vision of continuing to do better work, and grow, and attract and retain top talent, and let’s see where that takes us.

"We’ve been really privileged to get to this place. B2B creativity is such an important area – our simple proposition seems to be resonating in the market, and we just want to do more of it. We’ve hired amazing people and want to keep giving them the opportunity to do their best work.”

Tim Fry, who has built Fight or Flight's North American operations to multimillion-dollar revenue and 18 staff in just 24 months, will remain as chair, supported by executive vice president Emma Hedges and SVP Dan Bird, and creative lead Lauren Payne-McLeod.

Meredith-Hardy said: “Tim, Emma, Dan and team have built an exceptional North American agency from scratch in just two years. Our US and Canada teams have made a significant contribution to the business, winning some stellar clients, attracting top talent and delivering breakthrough campaigns. We’re all so excited to see where this growth takes us.”