October 10, London: Today Pleon, the European Communications agency, announced Jennifer Helfer as its new CEO, taking over from Geoff Beattie as of January 1, 2007.

Helfer, who is currently Managing Director of Pleon in the UK, has also been heading up its Corporate Practice which has been shortlisted for a PR Week award for work on Shell.

Pleon, which has recently celebrated its second year in business as Europe’s largest agency, will also benefit from a major restructure of the management team, including the new role of Corporate Director, for which the company is currently recruiting. The company client list includes major global brands such as Shell, T-Mobile, Sony, Nortel, and IBM.

The senior leadership team will now exist in the following way:

• Eva Keogan will augment her Consumer Director role with Creative Director
• Nick Morris, Technology Director
• Craig Wildman from Financial Controller to Finance and Operations Director
• Iain Halpin will become the agency’s Strategic Consulting Director

"Jennifer has the fully rounded experience we need. She has led marketing and communications within an international company and worked with the world’s best VCs. She has a strong business understanding, experience with a top-10 Omnicom agency and an excellent track record during her time with the company. In the past two years she has built a sustainable corporate practice with a sound strategy for future growth, provided strategic guidance for key clients and managed the day-to-day operations of the UK office," said Timo Sieg, Pleon CEO, Europe.

"I am very confident and excited about 2007. Pleon has been such a natural fit for me since the moment I read about the company launch," said Helfer. "Geoff has done a great job getting the right senior management team in place. My goals for the next year are to continue our transition to a full service agency by expanding our client base and growing the London team."

Jennifer joined Pleon in December 2004 as an associate director. Her background includes:

• Setting up a partnership of UK professional services companies to service early-stage investment companies for venture capitalists in 2002 and 2003
• Serving as director of marketing and corporate communications for US-based iGATE (NASDAQ: IGTE), a global IT Services and BPO company from 1999-2001
• Starting her career at Ketchum Pittsburgh as one it its technology practice’s first employees, where she won the biggest award in the US PR industry, the PRCA Silver Anvil Award for integrated marketing communications in 1998

Jennifer graduated from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania, USA with a communications and marketing degree.

About Pleon

Pleon (www.pleon.com) is Europe’s leading international consulting firm, creating and implementing strategies for private and public sector organisations around the world. With a deep understanding of business, politics and communications, Pleon is uniquely placed to devise compelling solutions that deliver measurable and tangible results. Blending the best of local market knowledge and leadership with global resources and best practice, Pleon provides a one-stop resource for communications in Europe.

The Agency has 31 branded offices in 15 European countries and associate agencies in 14 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

For further information please contact:

Eva Keogan
Pleon UK
020 7479 5631
eva.keogan(at)pleon.com