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Mike Hughes to step down as Director General of ISBA

ISBA has announced that Director General Mike Hughes will step down in the first quarter of 2017 after 10 years heading up the advertiser representative body.

ISBA President, Simon Litherland, CEO of Britvic plc, said: “The ISBA Council is extremely grateful to Mike for his astute leadership of ISBA over the past decade. He has overseen growth of membership to its highest-ever level, with a significant expansion of benefits flowing to ISBA members. He has maintained ISBA’s unique focus on protecting and furthering the interests of advertisers while ensuring that ISBA plays its full part in industry-wide initiatives. We wish him well.”

Mike Hughes said: “I’ve really enjoyed the past 10 years and it’s now time to pass the torch and move on to the next chapter of life. I am immensely proud of the dedicated, professional ISBA team who deliver value day in, day out and particularly the execution of an ambitious growth strategy which has resulted in record membership and expansion of member benefits. I look forward to my successor taking ISBA on to the next level.”

Mike joined ISBA in 2007, having spent over 30 years in senior marketing and general management roles at Unilever, Coca-Cola, Guinness and Bulmers plc, followed by involvement in a number of digital start-ups. He is also a member of the Brussels-based World Federation of Advertisers Executive Committee, where he holds the posts of Treasurer and Chair of the National Associations Council, as well as key UK industry bodies. He intends to take on non-executive roles in addition to helping an existing business to achieve an AIM listing.

The search for a successor has already been initiated under the auspices of the ISBA Nomination Committee reporting to the President, and is being handled by Hunter-Miller. An announcement is expected before the year-end.