NEWS: Souter named to succeed Abbott

Peter Souter has been appointed ‘creative-director-in-waiting’ at Abbott

Mead Vickers BBDO as part of a plan to groom him as David Abbott’s

successor.

The agency has bypassed its collection of experienced stars to raise

Souter, 33, to the rank of deputy creative director and charge him with

sustaining its creative culture after Abbott’s retirement.

‘Peter is my heir apparent and in the fullness of time he will succeed

me,’ Abbott said this week.

‘I don’t know exactly when that will be but he won’t be waiting in the

wings forever.

I don’t plan to leave the party yet but I’m having a swift look at my

watch.’

The promotion of Souter, an award-winning copywriter, is a further

significant move by the agency’s founding partners to achieve a smooth

handover of power to the next generation of managers led by Andrew

Robertson, hired from WCRS last year as managing director.

For Souter, currently on holiday in the US, his rise to the brink of one

of the most coveted creative jobs in the industry has been meteoric and

comes just five years after he and his art director, Paul Brazier,

joined the agency.

Souter worked at Delaney Fletcher Delaney and Woollams Moira Gaskin

O’Malley before joining WCRS, where he was paired with Brazier. Soon

afterwards, the duo were drafted in to work on the agency’s ‘Frank N.

Stein’ electricity privatisation campaign.

At Abbott Mead, they have been associated with some of its most high-

profile accounts including Volvo, the Economist and the RSPCA, and

produced the ‘synchronised flying’ commercial for Delta Air Lines.

‘I’ve had my eye on Peter for some time,’ Abbott said. ‘I wanted

somebody capable of giving us the continuity we already have in other

areas. That has meant skipping a generation.’

He added: ‘Peter has a well-rounded talent. Not only does he have good

presentational skills but he is a passionate defender of the Abbott Mead

way of doing things.’

Souter will become increasingly involved in creative department

decisions.

‘The appointment doesn’t seem to be ruffling feathers but you never know

what the fall-out will be,’ Abbott admitted.

This article was first published on Campaign