Ruder Finn Appoints Nick Leonard New MD for London Office

NEW YORK, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Ruder Finn has appointed Nick Leonard as UK managing director to lead the agency into its new phase of growth and drive business within the London office. Last year, Ruder Finn announced a new priority for the agency, focused around four strategic core strengths: Health & Wellness, Corporate & Public Trust, Global Connectivity and Life+Style.

Nick brings a wealth of experience from his eleven years in corporate, technology and consumer PR, and is ideally positioned to lead the London office to expand across the agency's full suite of core capabilities. Prior to joining Ruder Finn, he held the position of Managing Director of Octane -- a LEWIS group company spanning five countries, working with companies such as BT Retail and Google. Prior to this, he held key agency roles including VP Strategy for Europe and Head of Creative Services within the LEWIS Group, consulting with major clients on messaging, strategy and new media. He has broad experience in the interactive environment and in designing powerful on-line campaigns.

This appointment will complement Ruder Finn's strong and established healthcare practice in London, and enable the agency to aggressively expand corporate, technology and lifestyle business in line with the firm's global strategic focus on four operational pillars (Health & Wellness, Corporate & Public Trust, Global Connectivity and Life+Style).

The agency's healthcare practice, under group head Claire Martin, has recently been further strengthened with several new hires, including Philippa Wallace, former head of healthcare for Ogilvy UK, Jamie Brown, Associate Director, who joined from Pfizer, Katy Compton-Bishop who joined from Euro RSG, Caroline Cerny, from Red Door, and Anthonia Aboyeji, who joined from Burson-Marsteller.

The office has as recently picked up some significant new business wins, including Wyeth Enbrel and Relistor in the healthcare practice, Life Line Screening, in the public affairs practice, headed by Hugh McKinney, and Nextwave, in the technology practice, led by Becky McMichael.

Ruder Finn's roster of blue chip clients globally includes Sun Microsystems, Audi, BP, DHL, Emirates, Michelin, McKinsey, NEC, Novartis, Sony, Visa and Pfizer.

Commenting on the appointment, Kathy Bloomgarden, Ruder Finn's CEO said: "We were impressed by Nick's passion and energy for the business, his command of new media and breadth of experience in our key strategic areas. We are confident that under his leadership Ruder Finn London will stand out even more for differentiated, innovative ideas and strategic thinking."

Commenting on why he decided to join Ruder Finn, Nick said: "The chance to move to Ruder Finn was one I couldn't turn down due to the quality of the people, the potential within the organisation, and the opportunity to contribute to great client programs. The agency has huge international success in its core areas, a visionary approach, and great people at both Group level and heading its UK practices. I'm excited about the opportunity and the platform to grow the organisation and help clients tap into fresh and creative ways to build corporate trust and reputation and promote their brands."

About Ruder Finn, Inc.

Ruder Finn is a leading independent communications, counselling and services Agency with almost 60 years experience. The Ruder Finn Group maintains offices in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C., London, Paris, and Jerusalem. Asia Pacific offices include Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney. The Agency also works with leading independent affiliates in major markets throughout the U.S., Europe and Latin America. Ruder Finn had been named the #1 Ranking Large Agency for Overall Performance and Client Support by leading PR trade newsletter The Holmes Report and serves the global and local communications needs of more than 250 corporations and non-profit organizations. For additional information, visit www.ruderfinn.com.

    Contact:    Kathy Bloomgarden    Co-CEO    Ruder Finn, Inc.    212-593-6497    bloomgardenk@ruderfinn.com