Carrie Rose has become the sole shareholder in Rise at Seven in a debt-free buyout.
Rose’s co-founder Stephen Kenwright exits as part of the deal, while COO Nick Hussey becomes Managing Director. Key senior hires will also bolster the senior leadership team.
Rose and Kenwright co-founded the agency in 2019 and it currently turns over more than £7m in annual revenue and experienced 250 per cent growth in 2021/22. The fast-growing agency employs more than 90 people across four offices, and Rose says she expects it to keep growing.
Rose will take full control of Rise at Seven Group in the UK and US, and will continue to lead on creative excellence and innovation. Hussey, a 30-year veteran of agencies including McCann, Jaywing, Mother and Forever Beta, steps up to group MD from his former role as COO.
Co-founder Kenwright, who has served as Commercial Director, will step down from the business and exit following his sabbatical leave. Initial investment is also bought out, making Rose 100 per cent owner.
Rise at Seven has also confirmed further changes to its senior team – former head of ecommerce at Virgin Trains, Kristal Ireland is appointed executive director, and former SEO director at MediaCom, Will O’Hara, will become digital strategy director.
Rose said: “The Rise at Seven journey has been incredible to date and I couldn’t have done it without Stephen’s brilliant counsel and support. He and I started this as friends and I’m proud to say we will remain exactly that. He has been the most incredible, calm and inspirational support. He always dreamt of building one of the industry’s best creative agencies, and we did it. We did it together. I personally will miss working with him, as will all of the Rise team. He’ll always be part of the Rise family.”
She added: “Now we embark on a new challenge for true global domination. We are starting to attract more senior talent and brands, with lofty ambitions for global growth and it means the agency has made a number of changes in recent months to build a truly global agency capable of multi million £ accounts. Expect a lot more news to come over the next few months with new director hires and global account wins.
