Gareth Evans, MD at Cogent, and Lauren Thacker, Client Service Director at Cravens, have been appointed as new IPA City Heads. Gareth succeeds Anthony Tattum as IPA City Head for Birmingham and the Midlands, while Lauren replaces Kieron Goldsborough as IPA City Head for Newcastle and the North East.
In their roles, Gareth and Lauren will serve as figureheads for the industry in their regions, championing the outstanding talent in the advertising community and providing a voice for IPA members. They will also work closely with IPA Chair for England & Wales, Richard Aldiss, on wider industry issues and IPA initiatives.
Says Gareth Evans, MD, Cogent and IPA City Head for Birmingham and the Midlands: "The Midlands proudly boasts a vibrant creative sector, built on our rich heritage, diverse talent and entrepreneurial spirit. This is more evident than ever in the brilliant agencies that call the beating heart of the UK home, and their world class work. I’m looking forward to supporting member agencies to bring to life Josh Krichefski's ‘People First’ agenda by opening eyes, opening hearts and opening minds, and to helping amplify the IPA’s voice in the region."
Says Lauren Thacker, Client Service Director, Cravens and IPA City Head for Newcastle and the North East: "I'm hugely excited, and honoured, to be the newly appointed IPA City Head for Newcastle and the North East. I'm looking forward to supporting and championing the North East members, advocating for the creative community and helping to highlight the brilliant resources the IPA has to offer. I hope I can positively build on Kieron’s work and contribution over the last few years, and look forward to working with the IPA and my fellow City Heads."
Commenting on the appointments, IPA Director of Membership Tom Mott said: "I am delighted to welcome Gareth and Lauren as our new City Heads for Birmingham and Newcastle respectively."
We put our members at the heart of everything we do, and we are excited to hear from Gareth and Lauren about the issues impacting their agency communities and how the IPA can help.
"I’d also like to thank Anthony and Kieron for their hard work during their tenures. Their enthusiasm, passion and commitment have been much appreciated, and they have been great ambassadors for their city regions, as well as excellent contributors to the meetings of our wider network of City Heads."
Gareth is Managing Director at the Cogent Group, the home of Cogent, Junction Eleven, Made By Sonder and The Fold.
After short stints in the jewellery and music industries, Gareth's agency career began 20 years ago. In that time he has been in business development and agency growth roles at agencies including Weapon7, Frukt, The Marketing Store and FiveByFive.
Gareth joined Cogent in 2015, returning to the agency where he‘d had his first taste of the advertising industry as a 14-year-old on work experience! Now part of the team leading the Cogent Group, he remains focused on growth through new business, client development, talent pipeline development and creative community building through The Fold.
Lauren started her career at BBH and spent over four years working with clients such as Virgin Media, Tesco, The Guardian and Refuge. She then made the leap into freelancing and worked on campaigns for KFC at Mother and Nike at W+K. She joined the Cravens team back in May 2020 and now heads up the client services department. Away from work, you'll find her running, reading, playing piano and hanging out with her one-year-old.