LONDON: Burson-Marsteller has poached Maitland's Kevin Bell to lead its global public affairs practice.
Bell is stepping in for Jeremy Galbraith, who is continuing in his other roles as CEO of Burson in EMEA and worldwide chief strategy officer.
Bell had spent nearly two years at Maitland Political, where he worked with clients including Fleurette Group of Companies, NATS, and Spire Healthcare as executive chairman.
Before that, he was regional president for the UK, Africa, and the Middle East for FleishmanHillard, and he previously helped to launch Westminster Strategy.
He is expected to make the move to Burson early next year. As global chair of the WPP Group agency's public affairs arm, he will report to worldwide chair and CEO Donald Baer.
“[Bell] has been great for us, and we wish him the very best in his new role, which will be more of a global management job,” said Jeremy Dorling, COO of Maitland and Maitland Political. “He will be staying with us for the time being to ensure a smooth handover of clients.”
Dorling added that the agency was conducting “both an internal and external search” for his replacement.
Former Burson UK CEO Matt Carter stepped down to establish a communications and polling consultancy in June.
This story originally appeared on the website of PRWeek UK.
