LONDON —Red Havas has appointed Claire Davies in the newly created role of director of strategy and planning for its communications teams in the UK.

Until December 2020, Davies was managing director of retail and leisure at Hill+Knowlton Strategies in London for nearly three years, working with clients including Westfield, Spotify, Shell Retail, Huawei and Cineworld. She left H+K in December 2020 and has been working as an independent creative strategy consultant in the interim.

Davies had previously worked at H+K from 2005-2012, including leading P&G's first foray into sustainability communications for key household brands across Europe, before going in-house as head of brand PR for betting firm Paddy Power Betfair, launching its first CSR campaign, and then as head of consumer PR for connected home brand Hive.

In her new role, Davies will sit on the UK senior leadership team, with a remit to drive new business and elevate Red Havas’ consumer and corporate proposition. The appointment follows a number of client wins for the agency – rebranded in 2019 as a micro-network within the Havas Global PR Collective – over the past year, including Amex, Vinted, Likewize, ManpowerGroup UK and TalkTalk.

Red Havas managing director Rachael Sansom, to whom Davies will report, said: “Following an absolutely stellar 2021, which saw us enjoy 30% YOY growth across the UK, we are delighted to welcome Claire to expand our strategic capabilities across the business and create meaningful work for our clients. Claire’s forte in strategy and planning will be crucial as we enter the next phase of our growth journey.”

Davies added: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining Red Havas in a period of such strong growth for the agency. The team I’m joining have some of the best brains in the industry, so it’s very exciting to be able to bring my knowledge to the table and drive truly innovative and strategic campaigns for some remarkable brands.”