LONDON — The Academy has appointed its first managing director, Ella Dorley-Brown, who joins after nearly 11 years as a director at Unity.

Dorley-Brown joined the agency in April as client services director and has been rapidly promoted to MD. She reports to The Academy co-founders Mitch Kaye and Dan Glover.

Kaye told the Holmes Report: “Ella has all of the values which we look for: she is smart, hard-working, comfortable in her own skin, and kind. Most of all, she is committed to delivering communication with impact and shares our ambition to be the best we can be. Dan and I have followed her career closely, and have always been fans of hers, so it’s great to finally be colleagues too. Dan and I are on a mission to being the brightest brains together to create work that gets noticed, solves problems and passes into popular culture. Hiring Ella as managing director helps us achieve this ambition.”

During her time at Unity, Dorley-Brown worked with brands including M&S, Baileys, Lloyds, Ben & Jerry’s, Butlins, Cancer Research UK, LEGO, Pernod Absinthe, Netmums, BT, Hovis, Whitbread, Get Safe Online and PizzaExpress.

She told the Holmes Report: “I’ve thought what Mitch and Dan did at Mischief was brilliant, and then watched The Academy put out great piece of work after great piece of work. When it came to the right time to move on from Unity, I was looking for an agency with that level of creativity. It could have been a massive shock after so long in one place, but I’ve felt at home from day one.”

Dorley-Brown said her priority would be to “look after our people and make sure that as we continue to grow we keep standards and creativity as high as they have been and take the team on the journey with us. Client service is really important to me, so I’m also very much seeing things from the client perspective and ensure we’re delivering the best work that has an impact on their business.”