(Reuters) -Advertising group WPP Plc said on Friday its chief operating officer Andrew Scott will retire at the end of the year.
WPP’s new boss, Cindy Rose, takes over the top job on Monday from Mark Read, who is standing down after seven years.
Scott had been seen as a possible candidate to replace WPP founder Martin Sorrell when he left in 2018, but he worked alongside Read during his tenure which was marked by fierce competition, technological change and challenges in key sectors and geographies.
Having joined WPP in 1999 as director of Corporate Development, Scot has played a critical role in the company’s multiple acquisitions.
WPP, which lost its crown as the world’s biggest ad group to France’s Publicis last year, is grappling with the transformational impact of AI, which gives clients the tools to create and manage more of their own marketing campaigns.
(Reporting by Kate Holton in London and Shanima A in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
