Edelman is in the midst of a big leadership shakeup in the Australian team with CEO Tim Riches departing the agency, and Steven Spurr (pictured above), an Edelman veteran who heads up the UK and Ireland office, taking the reins in Australia.

Further changes see Matthew Gain, chief operating officer at Edelman leaving the agency to work at Amazon-owned Audible as head of operations. Stuart Edwards has also joined the agency as managing director and Belinda Brett as general manager of consumer marketing.

“We’ve added more depth to the bench,” Iain Twine, CEO of Edelman Southeast Asia and Australia, said.

Expectations for the company remain the same, he added, with Spurr continuing moving the Australian arm of the business forward.

Spurr, who will officially take the reins at the start of March next year, was responsible for creating the first corporate citizenship program for a major multinational pharmaceutical corporation in the early 2000s that went on to win five awards, and has consulted with every leading pharmaceutical company with an oncology franchise. He served as managing director of the Health practice in the UK for four years covering health brand work, medical education, health policy and health corporate work. 

Prior to joining Edelman, Edwards was most recently managing director and company director at Lowe Profero. Brett returns from the UK, where she was a board director at Talk PR looking after clients including P&G.

“Our Australian business delivers world-class work and has a leading bench of talent across Melbourne and Sydney,” added Twine.

“Steven’s return to the Australian team is fantastic news. He is a highly-respected figure across our network, exemplifies our culture and brings to the table a depth and breadth of experience for our clients.”

As of yet, there doesn’t appear to be a replacement for Spurr over in the UK and Ireland office.