Barton has been with the agency for 13 years, most recently in the role of managing director of the London office.

Among the other changes to the senior management team are the creation of four new divisional managing directors. Steve King and Neil Aulton become managing directors of a combined Public Sector & Services division; Chris Bland becomes managing director of Media, Marcomms, Technology and Retail and Claudia Strauss managing director of FMCG & Shopper.

All four will join Charlotte Butterworth (managing director Qual) and Sue Homeyard (managing director Operations) on the company’s senior management team.