WPP's UK President Karen Blackett Set to Depart

Karen Blackett, WPP’s U.K. president is set to leave the business after almost 29 years. During her time there she has held key leadership roles, including chief executive of MediaCom U.K.

Blackett has risen through the ranks of the business after joining Mediacom U.K. (now EssenceMediacom) in where she would hold the posts of new business director and then chief executive before being named chief operating officer for Mediacom EMEA for three years.

She is a much-celebrated advocate fordiversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the business community, work that saw her awarded an OBE for services to media and communications in 2014. Blackett has also led initiatives including introducing the first apprenticeship scheme in the media sector to be supported by the U.K. government. In 2018 she was named as the government’s Race Equality Business Champion.

According to WPP, she will leave WPP in the summer “to pursue other external interests and opportunities.”

In a statement, Blackett said: “I will miss our brilliant people in our agencies, our clients and the creativity of our teams. I am always on a growth journey, and the time is right to pursue this outside of WPP. There is no doubt 2024 will be a pivotal year for the U.K. and U.S. and I am looking forward to what comes next.” 

Within WPP, Blackett also established an Inclusion Board for the U.K. that would share learning and elevate best practice policies around DEI.

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, added: “Karen has continually been a positive force for change in our industry and her commitment and unwavering loyalty to WPP and our clients have benefitted the company in many ways. She has always championed diversity of talent as the driver of creativity and growth, and has acted as a beacon for new talent, many of whom are key leaders across our agencies and the industry today.”

WPP has yet to reveal who will take over the responsibility for leading the U.K. business directly once Blackett departs.