The Irish chief executive of global communications giant FleishmanHillard, John Saunders, is to step down after nearly a decade in charge.
The company announced on Tuesday that Mr Saunders (66) would take on the role of global chairman from October 1st next, with chief operating officer JJ Carter replacing him as president and chief executive.
Mr Saunders took over at the helm in 2015 after leading FleishmanHillard’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
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FleishmanHillard noted that Mr Saunders’s relationship with the company began more than 30 years ago when he set up Fleishman Hillard Saunders in Dublin in 1990.
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The subsidiary became one of the global firm’s most successful offices. Prior to working with FleishmanHillard, Mr Saunders was a sports journalist with RTÉ.
“I look back on more than three decades at FleishmanHillard with pride and gratitude for the support of so many colleagues around the world and the trust that some of the world’s leading companies have placed in us,” Mr Saunders said.
“However, it’s now time for me to step back and spend more time with my family both in Dublin and in London and with my six young grandchildren whom I miss being so far away from,” he said.
Mr Carter has held a variety of key leadership roles in the company. He previously oversaw the agency’s East and West regions in the United States along with Canada and Mexico, and was general manager of one of the firm’s largest offices in San Francisco.
“It’s an enormous privilege to follow John and lead the organisation into the future during one of the most complex and consequential moments in our history,” he said.
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