NEW YORK: Llorente & Cuenca is restructuring along regional lines and making changes in its management structure, the firm said on Friday.
The agency is moving senior managers to roles that are more client-facing and restructuring its Latin American operations into three regions: north, Andean, and south. Each area will have its own management, finance, and talent structure.
Luisa García, formerly COO of Latin America, was named MD for Spain and Portugal. She will move to Madrid for the role and report to José Antonio Llorente, founding partner and chair, while working with Arturo Pinedo, MD of Spain and Portugal.
Goyo Panadero, MD for Spain and Portugal, will transition to MD of talent and innovation. He will be based in Madrid and also report to Llorente. Former chief talent and innovation officer Adolfo Corujo was named to the newly created role of MD of marketing and business development. He will be based in Sao Paulo and report to Llorente.
The role of Luis Miguel Peña as MD of Peru has been combined with MD of the Andean region, which consists of Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. He will be based in Lima and report to Alejandro Romero, CEO for the Americas.
Former regional innovation officer Juan Carlos Gozzer, will become MD of the south region, which includes Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. He will be based in Sao Paulo and report to Romero.
Javier Rosado will retain his title and stay in Panama as MD of the north region, which includes Mexico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. He also will report to Romero.
Garcia said she and her colleagues have been building the agency’s internal structure for the last several years. With most of that work done, she said they can turn back to more client-focused roles.
"It did happen that in the past few years, we were supporting the organization in this growth and now have, each one of us, built structures for that growth," she said. "It allows us to go really get back to the clients. That’s not wishful thinking or empty words, but we really were more focused on internal development over the last few years."
García, who is from Spain, said she is looking forward to returning.
"It’s a pleasure to go back home," she said. "It is quite a big change, but also I have been in charge of coordinating practice areas, so I was very much in touch with the Spanish market."
García said the firm will spend the last few weeks of the year finalizing and coordinating the changes, which will go into effect on January 1, 2019.
Llorente cut a partnership deal this year with U.S.-based public affairs firm Lincoln Strategy Group. Llorente & Cuenca posted 10% revenue growth in 2017 to $41 million.
