Cairbre Sugrue joins as Managing Director
Jonathan Hargreaves expands international role
London – Edelman today announced that Cairbre Sugrue joins the agency on 7th September 2009 as Managing Director of its UK Technology Practice. He joins Edelman from Oracle, where he was Senior Director of Corporate Communications for four years, and will report into Robert Phillips, CEO, with a dotted line to Jonathan Hargreaves, Technology Practice leader for EMEA. Cairbre will be responsible for existing client relationships and for growing the practice, which is the UK’s Number One Technology Agency (PR Week league tables 2009) and includes specialisms in consumer electronics, clean technology, digital entertainment and analyst relations.
The appointment follows a growing remit for Jonathan Hargreaves, who is taking on additional leadership responsibilities at a European and global level within the Technology Practice. In the UK, he will still work closely with Robert Phillips supporting the strategic development of the business, focusing in particular on the implications of new technologies for the communications industry.
Robert Phillips, CEO, Edelman, said: “Cairbre is a significant coup for Edelman and will be a fantastic addition to the senior leadership team. We are fortunate that we can build on a position of strength and Cairbre will add strategic value to existing clients and to growing the business.”
He continued: “As the pace of change in technology continues to speed ahead, it is essential that we understand the implications for the environment in which we operate. Jonathan’s thought leadership in this space will help us embrace the changes, both for our clients’ businesses and our own industry – not limited to the Tech sector alone.”
Jonathan Hargreaves commented: “Cairbre’s role will be to develop our enterprise software expertise and strategic thinking, particularly looking at the business impact of social media on the way large vendors engage with and sell to their customers.”
In his previous role, Cairbre led internal and external communications initiatives for Oracle in the UK and Ireland. Additionally he oversaw PR programmes for the South Africa market and the Oracle Financial Services Business Unit across Europe Middle East and Africa. Before Oracle he worked at Weber Shandwick for seven years, including a placement at its Silicon Valley office, before returning to London to rise to the board of its UK Technology Practice.
Cairbre Sugrue added: “I am excited to be joining the Edelman team, because they have a great reputation for thought leadership in the industry. I am grateful for the opportunities I received at Oracle and I am looking forward to applying my experiences to help the team and our clients develop communications strategies to drive demand for their business propositions. ”
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For further information, please contact:
Jonathan Hargreaves, European Managing Director
T: +44 (0)7921 742 730
Jonathan.hargreaves@edelman.com
