London, UK — 11th January, 2024 — Clarity, the global digital marketing and strategic communications agency, today announces its Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sami McCabe has departed the company. After ten years of consistent growth organically and via acquisition, Sami will now focus on other projects. Rachel Gilley has been appointed as new Chief Executive Officer.
“The time has come for me to hand over the reins to Rachel Gilley who will now assume the role of CEO. Rachel has been crucial to Clarity’s growth story since joining five years ago – overseeing operations in Europe, managing the agency’s largest office in London, whilst supporting me as part of the global leadership team. I leave Clarity as a strong and vibrant agency, with an exceptional CEO and outstanding global executive team, delivering world class digital marketing and communications services to a stellar roster of clients”.
Rachel joined Clarity five years ago as UK Managing Director after 20 years with Bite Communications (now Archetype) where she rose to Managing Director, London. She was then promoted to lead Clarity EMEA before taking on the role of Global Chief Client Officer in 2022. During that time, she has helped transform Clarity into a truly global integrated communications agency with a geographic footprint in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific and a team that has grown from 40 to 150.
In the past eighteen months Clarity’s service offering expanded significantly, through the acquisitions of public affairs firm Political Intelligence UK, and strategic communications, crisis and reputation management consultancy Sefiani based in Sydney, Australia.
As CEO, Rachel will be supported by a leadership team comprising Tom Telford (President Digital Marketing), Nick Lansman (President Public Affairs), Robyn Sefiani (President APAC & Reputation Counsel) and Will Julian-Vicary (Head of Technology).
Commenting on her new CEO role, Rachel said:
“I was delighted when Sami asked me to take on the role of CEO. It is a genuine privilege that he has handed over the reins so I can now work with this brilliant team, spread across our global offices. I joined the agency in 2019, because I believed in Sami’s vision, which was to create a global agency that sat between the large, global networks and single market agencies. It’s thanks to Sami and the environment he created that has enabled us to hire the best people and realise that vision and I will always be grateful for the opportunity, the support and his belief in me. We set out to offer an integrated suite of services to our clients, many of whom are established on the belief that technology will drive us towards a healthier, more prosperous, sustainable and equitable future. And we did it!
2023 has been a difficult year on a global footing but as an agency we’ve continued to deliver positive impact for our clients, winning business across multiple sectors and geographies. We are incredibly proud of recent successes including signing new clients including LastPass, Volvo Group, Glaukos, B Braun, Garrison, Etsy, Australian Mobile Telecommunication Association, Omada Identity and Vivup.
With the stellar leadership team I have alongside me – Robyn, Nick, Tom and Will – and a senior group of outstanding and highly experienced partners and presidents, we are recalibrating the business so we’re in the best possible position to seize new opportunities in 2024 and beyond.”
About Clarity
Clarity is a global digital marketing and strategic communications agency, who partners with the world’s most progressive brands to create impact and advocate for a better future, whether they are rebel start-ups, challenger brands, or industry titans. We offer a unique blend of communications, digital marketing and public affairs services, which allows us to solve our clients’ biggest challenges.
With a global reach across our own offices in North America, EMEA and APAC, alongside ourextensive partner network, Clarity creates value and drives the impact that matters. For more information, visit clarity.global.
