Speed MDs Stephen Waddington and Steve Earl to leave company

Stephen Waddington and Steve Earl, who founded the company from its forerunner Rainier and led it since 2009, are both to leave to pursue other projects, with Waddington set to leave by the end of the month.

The pair have made 'separate decisions to go', with Waddington saying on his blog that ‘the simple fact is that our work here is done'.

He said: ‘When the time comes I will shed a tear at parting company with Steve. It’s personal. We’ve worked together for almost 17 years at A Plus, Weber, Rainier PR and Speed, supporting each other through the highs and lows of agency, personal and family life.

‘But, we both need to move on, do new stuff and learn new things. I have no doubt that we will return occasionally to our table at The Stockpot in Panton Street.’

The agency will be led by joint MDs Kate Bosomworth and Scott McLean. Bosomworth joined Speed at the beginning of July when the agency bought consumer and sports shop KTB PR and will lead the consumer practice.

McLean, previously deputy managing director, will continue to lead the corporate team and will also take on the tech practice.

The agency says its acquisition of KTB PR was the first step towards ‘the objective of becoming a top 20 multi-sector PR agency by 2015’ and ‘further acquisitions to support this growth objective will be considered'.

This article was first published on prweek.com