M&C Saatchi has announced the appointment of Lee Simpson to managing partner. In his new role, Simpson will lead the agency’s largest account, CommBank. He will report into the agency’s general manager, Mim Haysom.

Haysom said: “We’re really excited to have Lee on board. He has a proven track record in financial services and is an ideal choice to lead our most significant client, CommBank.”

Simpson added: “The opportunity at M&C Saatchi Sydney was too big to ignore. A 400+ person integrated agency with great depth of talent across multiple disciplines. M&C also has an enviable client list, with CommBank in particular being a hugely significant account for the agency and the largest in the Group globally. Those factors, combined with the ambition of the agency to build on an already strong creative reputation, are very exciting.”

Simpson comes to the role from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne where he was Managing Partner and Head of Account Management. He brings significant experience in financial services having led the NAB business for the past three years.

While at Clemenger, Simpson led the team to a myraid of awards including placing 9^th in WRAC’s top 100 Most Effective Agencies, 3^rd in The Gunn Report’s Digital Agency of the World, as well as continued Clemenger’s success in winning the Campaign Brief Australian Creative Agency of the Year. Prior to this, Simpson was a Board Account Director at the UK’s most awarded agency, AMV BBDO.

Simpson started his career at Grey London, becoming their youngest Business Director/GAD. His experience there spanned a range of clients including P&G, ten GSK brands, launching a WPP start-up  and the British Heart Foundation digital business.