Weber Shandwick loses creative head Steve Strickland to Freuds

Nadirah Kaba, prweek.com, Friday, 03 June 2011, 6:06pm,

Weber Shandwick has lost its head of creativity to rival agency Freud Communications.

Strickland: new to Freud

Steve Strickland joined Freuds on 5 May as senior creative after spending five years at his former agency.

Strickland said: ‘I felt I needed a new challenge. While I was incredibly happy at Weber, there are certain opportunities that cannot be ignored.’

He also said that Weber’s internal overhaul – the launch of Creation, the appointment of Ben Padfield and Fiona Noble – meant ‘it felt like a good time to leave’.

This appointment is an addition to the extensive creative team at Freud. Director of corporate Oliver Wheeler said: ‘We have a number of creative directors and Steve is joining as one, all of whom report into Paul Melody.’

In his new role he will be working on the Mars, Asda and Kerry Foods accounts.

Strickland was featured in PR Week’s 29 Under 29 in 2010.