February 22, 2021
Big news - As of Monday 22nd February 2021, Chris Daplyn joins Valtech as the new Managing Director for Valtech UK. Chris Daplyn brings with him years of leadership experience from the digital agency landscape and a clear objective to significantly grow the UK business.
Valtech welcomes Chris Daplyn, a dynamic and experienced leader in the digital space. Chris has spent the last 8 years with WPP as Managing Director of Wunderman and most recently as CEO of Mirum in Europe after orchestrating the merge of Possible and Mirum in the UK. Chris joins Valtech with the clear objective to significantly grow the UK business and put the full-service portfolio of the Valtech Group on the radar of the biggest brands and companies in the UK. Chris Daplyn says:
“Valtech as a digital agency is something of a best kept secret in the UK. But for years, Valtech has helped transform some of the UK’s most loved brands like EasyJet, Just Eat, Ocado and Toyota into more digital and innovative organisations, while also doing amazing work by modernising valuable institutions like the NHS and the Department for Transport. I’ve known and admired Valtech at a distance for their innovative work, and the chance to join the ambitious journey Valtech is on, both in the UK as well as globally, is a great opportunity I’m thrilled to be part of"
Time for change
The capabilities available at Valtech, offering the entire 360 perspective on business transformation from strategy to execution and implementation, is exactly what is needed, not only for Chris, but for brands today. Chris Daplyn shares:
“Taking the helm of Valtech UK is an opportunity I couldn’t refuse. It has a proposition that is tailor-made for brands today, with well-established capabilities in service design, eCommerce, digital engineering and data-driven marketing that many in the industry are scrambling to build or acquire. In a period of rapid growth for Valtech globally, we have huge ambitions for the UK. It is going to be an exciting ride”.
Local strengths and a global outlook
The timing for bringing Chris onboard was just right for us, explains Valtech Group COO, Olivier Padiou;
“Valtech, globally, are in the midst of successful acceleration and expansion. Our ambitions for Valtech UK are similar. To leverage our size and global presence, it’s essential for us that we balance our local and global focus. Bringing someone like Chris Daplyn onboard with his strong commercial profile and international leadership experience provides an immense strength and adds extra bandwidth to our UK leadership team. With Chris we found a personality that matches our values, culture and leadership style in Valtech perfectly, and not least a shared ambition of growing Valtech into one of the preferred digital partners among clients and brands in the UK market”.
The former UK Managing Director, David Draper, will remain part of the Valtech UK executive management team and will report to Chris. Dave will focus his attention on best-in-class delivery and business operations in the UK, while at the same time further growing the cross-border collaboration between Valtech UK and the rest of the 3500+ colleagues within the global Valtech organisation.
Chris Daplyn will also join the Valtech EMEA Senior Leadership Team, where the responsibility for growing the Valtech business across the entire EMEA region lies.
