LONDON — Paris-based European agency group Jin has appointed a new managing director in London, as part of plans to grow its UK business.

Hugo Fargeas, who has been with Jin since 2016 and is a partner in the firm, was previously head of international and chief of staff. The appointment follows the departure of Jin’s first London managing director, former Dentsu executive Simon John, who joined in 2020.

Jin now has a team of six in London, and aims to double this in the next 18 months. Fargeas is currently based between London and Paris, with plans to fully relocate to the UK in the coming months.

In his new role, Fargeas will be responsible for new business in the UK, as well as continuing to manage clients who work with the agency in London and Jin’s other markets in France and Germany, including its largest UK-based client, Getty Images.

He told PRovoke Media: “We’ve had an office in the UK for the past few years but we lacked visibility and hadn’t managed to translate our global positioning around brand PR, marketing and strategic communication including corporate and crisis to the UK market. One of my objectives is to do that and develop our strategic communications offer for clients in the UK.”

Fargeas added: “London is still an important market in Europe and can be at the forefront of innovation in terms of Jin’s business, as well as a front door for English-speaking clients we have approaching us from US, Asia Pacific and Australia – such as Five Guys which we work with in France – as well as European clients with a footprint in London.”

Jin CEO Edouard Filias said of the appointment: "Hugo has been a key player in Jin's overall growth and him becoming UK general manager sets the tone for our UK ambition: great client work, growth, going even more international on all our projects."

In October last year, Jin – which was last week named as PRovoke Media’s EMEA digital agency of the year – bought French digital consulting firm Opinion Act as part of its European expansion plans.