Darren Burroughs Email & Phone Number

England, United Kingdom

London, England, United Kingdom

Initially brought in as an interim Managing Director to steer a turnaround, I quickly transitioned into a permanent role due to the critical need for strong leadership and the tangible impact my approach was having on the agency. My main goal was to revitalise a demotivated team, cultivate a positive and dynamic culture, and ultimately address significant commercial under performance. Despite a challenging market and economic instability, we achieved a remarkable 485% increase in profit from the first to the second half of the year, By the close of 2023 and into 2024 the agency's energy and morale had significantly improved.The success has been built on a foundation of truly listening to the team and then making decisions with clarity and purpose. We've gone through an organisational restructure and sharpened our focus on "Curiosity" as our core agency value and strategic approach to understanding consumer behaviour, all whilst staying true to our people-first ethos. These changes have set the stage for continued growth and success as we move forward. I am incredibly proud of our team's accomplishments, fuelled by the diversity of thought that comes from our diverse workforce.

United Kingdom

Active member and mentor

At Archant my remit was to transform APS, a high volume, low quality, non-revenue generating production department, into Creative Life, an in-house creative agency focused on producing quality work delivering profits to the business. My role focused on executing a 3-5 year strategy to launch and develop the brand. We delivered £800k revenue in the first year from a standing start, with the business on track to deliver £1.5m in Year 2 before the Newsquest acquisition saw a pivot in strategy at board level. I built the agency from the ground up, designing the operating structure, recruiting talent, and overseeing all aspects of pricing, budgeting, forecasting, and board reporting. I changed the culture and inspired over 100 creatives, account directors, and support staff, turning Archant into a place where people could fulfil their creative dreams. Additionally, I sourced and negotiated all third-party contracts, supported commercial teams in shifting clients to paid ad design and provided creative guidance to hundreds of local SMEs through the Insight Day webinar series. As part of the Archant Executive Board I played a key role in steering the overall business.

At Dennis Publishing, I was headhunted to create a central partnerships team and vastly improve partnership revenue. Through a new insight-led approach and my strong network of agency contacts, I overhauled the branded content offering, almost tripling revenue from £1.6m to over £4m in three years. My role evolved from running a small team to launching and overseeing the 30-person Dennis Content Studio. I was responsible for setting strategic direction, managing P&L, and aligning a portfolio of brands and commercial teams to work towards common goals. I introduced new processes, training programs and templates which enhanced hit rates, and upskilled the sales team. Additionally, I nurtured senior agency contacts relationships, diversified our strategy to focus on owned platforms and white-label offerings, and drove strategic investment in third party suppliers to elevate our content offering and use of insights and data.

As a key member of the award-winning CREATE/SPARK creative solutions team, I managed agency pitches, regularly topped biller charts, and won numerous awards for branded content campaigns.

London

I ran the London commercial team, reporting into the UK and European Group Publishers, at a time of rapid growth for Vice in the UK.

Ran the strategic planning across Warner Music and Puma accounts.

Began on graduate scheme and progressed through the ranks to Press Manager. Ran the print buying on a number of key accounts including British Airways, O2, Paramount and the Richemont Group.

Management Studies, Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services

Education record