System 1 COO Alex Batchelor Leaves

In the UK, insight and ad agency System 1 Group has announced that its Chief Operating Officer Alex Batchelor is leaving the business, as the role is being split into two, non-Board positions.

Batchelor (pictured), joined System 1 (whose research arm was previously known as BrainJuicer) in 2010. His previous roles included CMO at TomTom, Marketing Director at the Royal Mail, VP Global Brand at Orange, and Planning Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, and he began his career at Unilever. In a statement, System 1 said Batchelor will resign as a Director of the company on 30th June, to pursue his 'next growth challenge'.

The COO role will now be managed by Emma Cooper, who has been promoted to lead Global Operations, while Rod Connors, who runs the System1 Advertising Agency, will lead group marketing. CEO John Kearon commented: 'On behalf of the group I would like to thank Alex for his invaluable contributions as a director and as COO of the company's threefold growth over the last seven years, and we wish him the very best in his next challenge'.

System 1 announced recently that revenues for the past fifteen months (the firm recently changed its year-end reporting date from the end of December) rose 27% to £32.8m, and profit before tax was up 25% to £6.28m. The firm is online at: www.system1group.com .