Bob Walton
Bob has spent his entire career in media-related Businesses. Much of it, running sales operations within national newspapers, magazines, directories and computer-based information publishers. As a consultant, he advised major media companies and has sat on the Boards and Chaired more than two dozen companies in the past twenty-five years. He moved to the agency-side of the fence in the mid-nineties and he has been a shareholder and Executive-Chairman of Accord since it was established. He and David Sitwell have been the partnership that has led the development of the Accord Group to become the major multi-category, privately owned enterprise that it now is.
David Sitwell
David started Conrad Advertising in 1988, after working in Tour Operating and Property on both sides of the Atlantic for most of the preceding ten years. Conrad became the UK's leading travel-specialist advertising agency and by 1999 there had been several acquisitions, before Accord was formed with David as CEO. Today, Accord is one of the UK's largest privately owned advertising agency groups, with three agencies and the holding company employing around 250 committed and talented people. David is an advocate of "best people-best technology". He focuses his team of MDs and senior managers on delivering ideas and solutions that directly benefit clients’ profitability, whilst enhancing both employee and shareholder value in Accord.
Peter Clark
After gaining his degree at Edinburgh University, Peter joined the RAF with aspirations of becoming a fighter pilot. Although this was not to be his future, he is a qualified pilot who is constantly keeping aware of anticipated weather that can provide an opportunity for him to be winging his way around the skies over Britain and Northern France. That, plus the demands of his three sons and still playing rugby and football are the things that can drag him away from his spreadsheets. His entire professional career has been spent in marketing services companies before joining the Conrad Partnership to help steer the company through to its incorporation as Accord. Peter's financial management skills have played a vital part in enabling Accord to build the group to the position it holds today.
Scot Ryan
IT systems have been critical to Accord's achievements and the substantial, qualified team of in-house specialists which Scot heads, has been responsible for many leading-edge systems. These have often enabled our agencies to provide added-value services, unique in their markets. Whilst his role encompasses responsibility for all aspects of IT within the Group, an important focus has been in driving the development of an internal suite of 'Business Process Management' applications that mimic those needed by the agencies within the Group. This has delivered a high degree of efficiency and automation and has been one of the significant factors in enabling the Accord Group to thrive over the years. Accord agencies’ production and media-delivery systems are second to none.
Vincent Sitwell
Vincent started his advertising agency career in 1989 when he joined Conrad Advertising as a junior partner, shortly after its inception. By 1996, he had become Managing Director and with a further seven years experience behind him, he joined the Board of Accord Holdings Ltd. In 2006 he assumed the role of Group Media Director, where his focus has been on the planning, development and implementation of Accord-agencies’ strategies for their clients to be able to gain the very best return from the Group’s knowledge of, and relationships with, the major media organisations offering offline and digital online solutions.
His partnership-approach to key media owners represents client-requirements for sustainable and cost-effective, direct response-driven advertising solutions. Without relinquishing any of the responsibilities of his role as Group Media Director, with effect from July 2010 his remit has been expanded, as he has taken-on the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) for all Accord agencies. In this, his job is to help ensure that the collective efforts of the individual agencies are co-ordinated effectively to achieve the best value for their clients from all the analysis, planning and buying that is done on their behalf.
Colin Lock
Colin is the most recently appointed member of the Accord Group Board, although he has been with the Company for five years. As a people-based business, the employees of Accord Group are our most valuable assets. The responsibility for employment terms and conditions and welfare of staff is of vital importance to us and is overseen by Colin and his dedicated team, which also manages procurement, property and other services. Colin has spent his entire career in personnel-related activities and when a Director of Professional Personnel Consultants Ltd., helped to advise and guide our Group in its pre and post-Accord days on all matters pertaining to employment. The Group was fortunate in 2004, to secure his full-time services and since joining us; his membership of the senior management team and his wise counsel has proved of benefit on numerous occasions.
Sally Winfield
Sally started out as a journalist. However, her media career took a totally new direction when she found her true vocation was for selling space, rather than filling it! She joined the London Evening Standard at the end of the eighties and a decade later was Group Classified Director of Associated Newspapers. In 2004 she was appointed Managing Director of LOOT. Today, she is a successful management consultant and executive coach, helping people in media to hone the skills needed to succeed in the fast-changing world in which they operate. Sally believes that success is dependent on clear lines of communication, relationships founded on trust, shared vision and values. As a non-executive director, she sees her role as offering strategic, specific and objective advice, helping provide long-term vision and acting as a mentor to colleagues when required.
Martin Arnold
Martin’s career started within High Street Banking, moving then to forge a successful career in the corporate finance sector, running a vehicle leasing company and working in various senior roles until coming to the advertising industry in 1994. He then joined Boyne Publicity, in turn becoming General Manager of the business and successfully developed its sales from £4.5 million to £17 million. On the company’s acquisition by the Accord Group, Martin was appointed MD of Boyne; then the MD of MKH Advertising in 2004. His remit has been to develop the business and lead the experienced MKH team.
Steve Holder
Steve joined the advertising world in 1989, originally as Finance Director before becoming Managing Director of Artavia in 1994. The world has changed since then, but Steve’s values have not. Recognising the commercial pressures clients face, Steve ensures that his team never forget that they will always respect honesty, value for money and hard work - sentiments that we continue to deliver today.
David Goodman
As Managing Director of Conrad Advertising, David sees his main responsibilities as introducing new clients to the agency and constantly improving the levels of service and value offered to existing ones. As an ex marketer and agency client himself, he has a very keen understanding of the levels of service that clients expect and an equally strong appreciation of what to avoid! A Mancunian with an interest in music and football, David is a graduate in Management and French and he spent his first year after gaining his degree in marketing roles based in Paris and Milan, returning to London in 1990, where he began his working involvement in UK Media, providing interactive telephone services to a range of media clients.