S4 Names Audit and Risk Committee Chair, and First COO

Digital advertising and tech services group S4Capital has named Colin Day Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee, as part of plans to tighten its financial control, risk and governance processes; and Chris Martin as its first Chief Operating Officer.

S4 was set up by WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell in 2018, just six weeks after he departed the group. The business has since made a wide range of acquisitions, including developer and data analytics firm 4 Mile Analytics; analytics and measurement provider Brightblue Consulting; and digital strategy and analytics consultancy Lens10.

In April, shares in S4Capital slumped after its auditors PwC delayed the release of its preliminary statement of results for 2021 for the second time. The accounting delays wiped £810m off the firm's market value, and £90m from the value of Sorrell's own stake in the business. In May, S4Capital published the results, showing revenue up 100.4% to £686.6m: but last week after a profit warning shares again plunged more than 40%.

The Audit and Risk Committee's role is to assist the Board with the discharge of its responsibilities in relation to external audits and controls, including considering the scope of the work undertaken by external auditors. Day joins the Board as a Non-Executive Director (NED) with decades of experience in both management and governance roles, including as Non-Executive Chairman of Premier Foods, as CEO of Essentra, and fifteen years' experience as CFO of both Reckitt Benckiser and Aegis. He has also served as an NED on the Boards of several companies, including WPP. Day replaces Rupert Faure Walker, who remains a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

In addition, the group has appointed MightyHive co-founder Martin as its first Chief Operating Officer (COO), to scale its organisational structure and processes. Martin previously led the Data&analytics and digital media pillar for Media.Monks, before which he worked for Yahoo! for more than a decade, responsible for post-merger integration of a number of the group's acquisitions.

Web site: www.s4capital.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.