Nabs, the support organisation for the advertising and media industry, has named Sue Todd as its next chief executive.
Todd joins from Magnetic, the marketing body for the magazine sector, where she has been CEO since 2015.
She will join Nabs in April and replace Diana Tickell, who also started her role in 2015. Tickell is stepping back from full-time work, but plans to continue to support industry causes on a voluntary portfolio basis.
Simon Daglish, chairman of Nabs and deputy managing director of commercial at ITV, said Todd had “all the drive, skills and passion necessary to build on all that Nabs has achieved in supporting the well-being of our industry, as well as to lead the organisation through its next ambitious phase”.
In addition to her role at Magnetic, Todd is a non-executive director for The Big Issue and audience measurement organisation Pamco.
She previously held roles at CBS Outdoor and Emap Advertising. She was also co-owner of Wonder, a consultancy that worked with clients in the media sector including Channel 4, MEC (now Wavemaker) and Ocean Outdoor.
Todd paid tribute to Tickell, saying: “The past few years have been incredibly challenging and Nabs, under Diana’s leadership, has been a critical source of support, advice and expertise for people across the advertising and media industry. It’s a privilege to be asked to lead an organisation that exists to help people, businesses and our industry to thrive.”
Tickell announced last autumn that she planned to leave Nabs, which was founded in 1913, and step back from full-time work.
During her tenure, Nabs has tripled the number of people that it helps each year, peaking during the pandemic when calls rose 35% while funding fell sharply with a drop of £1.6m over two years.
Tickell urged industry leaders to “re-commit to Nabs” when she spoke at Campaign’s Year Ahead breakfast earlier this month, stressing “how important it is that we look after the wellbeing of ourselves and our colleagues”.
Following Todd’s exit, Magnetic will be merged into the PPA, under the leadership of its new chief executive Sajeeda Merali.
Nabs worked with executive search agency Conker on the recruitment process.
