London - Saatchi & Saatchi has hired Richard Huntington as Director of Strategy for the UK.
Huntington will report into Robert Senior and sit on the UK board.
He was planning director at United London, formerly HHCL, for six years before it closed in April having joined the agency in 1997. Since then he has been running his own strategic consultancy advising clients as well as traditional and digital agencies.
Huntington is probably best known for his work on Tango, Iceland and Sky and writes the UK's most influential advertising blog www.adliterate.com.
Robert Senior, UK CEO, SSF Group, said: "We're in the talent business and Richard is full on talent. Together with Paul and Kate, we're looking forward to 2008."
Chris Chalk, previously chief strategic officer for the UK takes on the role of strategy director across EMEA and chairman for Saatchi & Saatchi in the UK. Chalk will continue to focus on Toyota Europe and playing a key role in the London agency.
Chalk said: "Richard is one of the best planners in the business and he's going to be instrumental in helping us deliver breakthrough work for our clients."
Huntington joined HHCL from AMV where he spent four years. Prior to AMV, Huntington was at direct marketing agency BHWG, now Proximity. He sits on the management committee of the Account Planning Group in the UK, chairs the judges for the APG Creative Strategy Awards and is a member of the IPA Strategy Group.
Huntington said: "It's an exciting time to be joining Saatchi & Saatchi. I'm looking forward to working with Robert, Kate and Paul and being part of the agency during what is set to be such a seminal period."
The move follows last month's appointment of Paul Silburn as creative partner to work alongside Kate Stanners.