Fast growing marketing services group, Selbey Anderson, has appointed Katherine Watkins as the group's first Chief People Officer.

Katherine will join the Group's senior executive team and will assume responsibility on all aspects of talent management including learning & development, senior executive compensation, M&A, post-acquisition agency integrations, talent programmes, internal communications and staff engagement.

Katherine has had a long and industrious career in people management progressing from HR Manager to HR Director. She has previously held positions in:

• Head of HR Consultancy at Insurance HR Solutions part of the UKIG Group
• Senior HR Mergers & Acquisitions partner at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co
• Mergers & Acquisitions HR Partner at PwC
• EMEA HR Talent Management Director at Sutherland Global Services (a US-based BPO company employing 3,000 staff in five European countries)
• EMEA Head of HR Service Delivery & Strategic M&A projects at Cushman & Wakefield

Commenting on Katherine’s appointment, Selbey Anderson’s CEO, Dom Hawes, said: “We're close to acquiring an agency that will take our group headcount to over 200 and, as we continue to execute our growth plan, our employee base will grow to over 260 by the end of the year.

Katherine Watkins, CPO

"Those sort of numbers, combined with the incredibly demanding environment in which our agencies seek to attract and keep truly talented people, means that we need somebody of Katherine’s seniority and global experience to develop and implement appropriate people strategies that will allow us to be a real talent magnet".

Commenting on her new role and decision to join Selbey Anderson, Katherine said: "Jobs like this don’t come round very often. What Selbey Anderson have created thus far is truly impressive.

"Led by Dom and Simon, I have been impressed by their willingness to embrace new ideas and the way in which they truly care about their employees. There are certainly many challenges ahead, but I feel as a group, we have the right leadership in place. As an executive team, I am excited about each of us collaborating to grow Selbey Anderson and making it a company clients and people want to partner with.

"I am especially looking forward to meeting all the agencies in the Group and sharing my nearly 30 years' experience with them, to add even more value to each of them. The Group have a great deal to be proud of."