LONDON — IPG agency Golin has promoted group managing director Ondine Whittington to become its first London president.

In the newly-created role, Whittington will continue to lead Golin and sister specialist agency Virgo Health London, overseeing a team of nearly 200 people. She will also join the global executive leadership team.

Since joining Golin in 2020, Whittington has driven double digit growth, nearly doubled the team, and seen a 69% win rate across both businesses; the agency was named as PRovoke Media’s EMEA mid-sized consultancy of the year for 2023, with a client list that includes Asics, Magnum, Persil, Premier Inn and LEGO Group.

During her tenure, Whittington has hired Golin London’s first diversity, equity and inclusion director and launched policies including gender neutral family leave, banding and pay transparency and a new partnership with Your Game Plan – an organisation that aims to bring more diverse talent into the industry.

Whittington will continue to report to CEO Matt Neale, who said: “Ondine has proven herself to be a leader for our modern era. Her sophisticated and nuanced approach to building our brand and culture has led to consistent top and bottom-line growth in London; which is now the third largest office in our network.

“She guided the business through the pandemic into a thriving hybrid-working model and harnessed the power of collaboration between Golin, Virgo Health and the rest of the network to deliver stand out work for clients and opportunity for our people.”

Whittington added: “Over the last few years, our world and how we work within it has changed dramatically. While this presented a challenge, I also believe it created amazing opportunities for our clients and our people. I have felt incredibly privileged to lead this change and build an exceptional leadership team in London that is redefining and rebuilding a culture and brand that’s fit for the future.”