The Futures Company Announces Next Generation Global Management Line-up

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Futures Company (TFC), the leading global trends and futures consultancy, has announced a new senior management line-up as the company embarks on a period of expansion.

Will Galgey, Managing Director of the UK business since 2007, takes the role of Global CEO, effective immediately, based in London.

Also effective immediately, current Executive Vice Chairman J. Walker Smith becomes Executive Chairman; current COO Kevin Brown becomes CEO, North America; and Sarah King steps up from Deputy Managing Director to Managing Director, UK. Other key senior roles will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

These appointments have been made following the resignations and impending departures of Sian Davies, Crawford Hollingworth and Sarah Davies.

Galgey began his career on the prestigious WPP Fellowship programme. He is a 10-year veteran of TFC, most recently as Managing Director, UK and a founding member of the global board that created TFC following the merger of Henley Centre HeadlightVision and Yankelovich in 2008. Under his leadership the UK office of TFC was recently listed as one of The Sunday Times '100 Best Companies to Work For'.

Galgey has recently been closely involved with the entry of TFC into the South American market, augmenting its existing operations in the UK, the US and India. Its offices in Buenos Aires and Mexico City began operations earlier this year.

Galgey said: "As clients once again start looking to the future after the economic turbulence of the past two years, it is an exciting time to be taking on the leadership of The Futures Company. I am looking forward to ensuring that our insights, foresights and futures capabilities are the most innovative and actionable in the marketplace as we continue to expand the business in our existing and new geographies."

TFC has a long heritage of delivering transformative insights to clients. Recent perspectives have included "Looking East: The Changing Face of World Business," prepared in partnership with HSBC and prominently reported in The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times; a lead article in the July/August 2010 issue of AdMap on new advertising models to reflect the importance of context in a digital age; and Greenprint, TFC's newly updated global sustainability segmentation, which was previewed at a client seminar in London earlier this month. An in-depth perspective on the myths and realities of the changing balance of spending and saving among US consumers is soon to be published.

Additionally, TFC is pioneering innovative insight delivery platforms and will soon unveil a new online platform for trends and futures insights. The forthcoming TFC Client Gateway will facilitate the integration of data, observational insights and thought leadership needed to reliably generate the kind of foresight now sought by marketing clients.

Eric Salama, CEO of TFC parent company Kantar, commented on Galgey's appointment: "Having known Will since his early days as a WPP Fellow," says Salama, "it is a particular pleasure to see him take the helm of The Futures Company. He provides continuity for the next phase of TFC's growth and expansion while doing so with his characteristic energy, enthusiasm and inventive thinking. Together with a strong management team I am confident that they will drive the company in new and innovative directions, delivering more of what TFC is known for – the most robust and inspiring insights and foresights and the most innovative and applicable futures techniques and future-facing research methodologies."

For further information please contact (in the UK) Will Galgey on +44 20 7955 1818 or at [email protected] or (in the US) J. Walker Smith on +1 404 808 5057 or at [email protected]

Editor's notes

J. Walker Smith has been Executive Vice Chairman of TFC since the merger of Henley Centre HeadlightVision and Yankelovich in 2008. He joined Yankelovich in 1991 and was president of the company at the time of the merger.

Kevin Brown joined Yankelovich in 2002, as VP of Sales and has over 30 years experience in sales and sales management. He has been COO of TFC since the company's creation in 2008.

Sarah King joined what was then the Henley Centre in 2005 after a career in advertising, including 14 years on the board of AMV.BBDO, in both account management and strategic planning. She has been Deputy Managing Director of TFC UK since 2008.

About The Futures Company

The Futures Company is a global trends and futures consultancy, formed in 2008 from the coming together of Henley Centre HeadlightVision and Yankelovich. Through a combination of syndicated insight services and bespoke research and consultancy, our mission is 'Unlocking Futures' for our clients. By exploring the future needs, motivations and behaviours of consumers, and the broader dynamics in the marketplace, we unlock the future of consumers, categories, brands and companies.

About Kantar

Kantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 95 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group's services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.

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SOURCE The Futures Company