M&C Saatchi names Lean Mean Fighting Machine’s Tom Bazeley as CEO

M&C Saatchi has named Lean Mean Fighting Machine co-founder Tom Bazeley as CEO - the company’s first with a background in digital.

Taking up his role on 20 October, Bazeley’s appointment comes after former CEO Camilla Harrison left the company to lead Anomaly London.

Lean Mean Fighting Machine was sold to M&C Saatchi in April 2014, with the two agencies to formally merge on 20 October. Clients of the company include Unilever, De Beers and Land Rover.

Bazeley said: “Whilst we’ve yet to move into Golden Square, everyone I’ve met, from the grads up to the seventh floor, has a clear hunger to do great things in the post-digital world. Armed with the spirit of Lean Mean Fighting Machine, it’s going to be exciting leading them into it.”

He will report into Lisa Thomas, CEO for the M&C Saatchi Group.

She said: “Tom is a born leader. He has an irrepressible thirst for great creative work and the strength of mind to make a difference. His eagerness to do things differently and his entrepreneurial spirit are a good fit with our ethos.”