WE UK snaps up Allchurch as General Manager

Today, WE announced the appointment of Ruth Allchurch as general manager of its London office. In her new role, Allchurch will build out WE’s consumer expertise, building on the agency’s strong existing digital, technology and health offerings.

“As we continue to strive to be a force in the creation and amplification of branded content, there is huge potential for WE to provide a sophisticated integrated offering to brands across the U.K and the globe,” said Alan VanderMolen, WE’s international president. “Allchurch commands industry respect for her knowledge and counsel, and has the ability to rapidly develop trust with clients and colleagues. I know that her fresh thinking will help accelerate WE’s drive into a full service agency steeped in consumer and digital capabilities.”

Allchurch joins WE from Burson Cohn & Wolfe, where as managing director she led the UK consumer brand practice. Prior to this, she was managing director of FMCG and retail-focused PR agency Cirkle, where she led a 45-strong team with blue chip clients. Previously, she was head of brand PR for Diageo Western Europe for eight years. Allchurch is also chair of the PRCA Consumer Group and has won a slew of awards including Consultancy Head of the Year (PRCA 2015) and Best Agency Outside London (PR Week Awards 2017).

“WE has a very strong point of view steeped in its proprietary brands in motion and stories in motion intellectual capital,” said Allchurch. “The agency has quality talent and a global reach combined with the entrepreneurial spirit and passion of a start-up. I’m looking forward to developing the consumer offering in partnership with clients and colleagues in the UK and beyond.”

Marcus Sorour, WE UK’s current general manager, has been appointed the role of vice president, international, client services. Sorour will work across the Asia Pacific and EMEA businesses to develop the agency’s expanding roster of global clients. He has been with WE for over eight years, moving from WE South Africa to WE UK in 2015. In that time he has led rapid growth across WE’s B2B and B2C client base, securing clients including bacta, Capgemini, Nissan, Sennheiser, WeChat, and the Marine Stewardship Council.

“As WE continues to focus on helping businesses and brands propelled by global innovation and increasing expectations from stakeholders, client services is a key position for us,” said VanderMolen. “Technology and digital capabilities continue to play a pivotal role in driving transformation, and Marcus has proven successful working with a number of large clients in the region.”

“Growing our multi-market client base is a strategic priority for the agency and I’m looking forward to partnering with our leads across APAC and EMEA to extend our current remits and channel-agnostic service offering, while creating even more value for our clients,” said Sorour.

Both Sorour and Allchurch will be based in the WE London office and report to Alan VanderMolen.