AN advertising boss was forced to quit as his high-profile role as Chairman and CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi amid a sexism row has joined a Scottish public relations firm.
Kevin Roberts has been appointed as Chairman of Beattie Media, which employs 120 marketing and communications specialists in the UK and is based in Uddingston, North Lanarkshire.
Mr Roberts stepped down from Saatchi & Saatchi last year after saying that women did not have ambitions to climb the corporate ladder and that instead just wanted to be happy in their jobs.
He said: "They say: ‘We are not judging ourselves by those standards that you idiotic dinosaur-like men judge yourself by.’ I don’t think [the lack of women in leadership roles] is a problem."
After the row had died down he apologised, saying he was sorry his "miscommunication" had caused upset and offence.
Mr Roberts will coach the senior team and help grow Beattie and its Only brands internationally.
Laurna Woods, CEO of Beattie Group, said: “We are delighted to have recruited one of the world’s most inspirational business minds to help us expand in the UK, North America and Australasia.”
Mr Roberts added: “Beattie is a creative communications consultancy with enormous potential to grow internationally. We are an integrated marketing and communications company with foundations in PR, marketing, creativity, content, technology and data. We have no plans to become a traditional advertising agency.”
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