News

Grayling Expands Jan Šimůnek’s Leadership Role to Cover Continental Europe

Grayling has announced the promotion of Jan Simunek to oversee the company’s operations in Western Europe. The promotion builds on Simunek’s success as Grayling CEO for two other European regions: Central & Eastern Europe, Russia & CIS (CEE) and Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH). He will continue to manage both alongside his new Western European role.

Simunek’s expanded regional responsibilities bring together all of Grayling’s European offices, with the exception of the UK & Ireland, which will continue to be managed by Alison Clarke, Grayling CEO for the UK & Republic of Ireland.

Paul Taaffe, CEO of Huntsworth, Grayling’s parent company, said: “Clients increasingly want to connect effectively with the best talent regardless of its location and sometimes because of its location and Jan has a track record of finding the best and connecting them to our clients."

Simunek has been with Grayling for almost two decades, holding country management positions across CEE before assuming operational responsibility for the region. In 2014, he became a member of Grayling’s International Board. In his new position, Simunek will continue to work alongside Alison Clarke, Loretta Ahmed, Grayling CEO Middle East, Turkey & Africa and Peter Harris, Grayling CEO USA.

In Western Europe, excluding the UK & Ireland, Grayling has seven wholly owned offices and 120 consultants providing Public Relations, Public Affairs and digital communications services. There are a further 16 wholly owned offices across CEE & DACH with a total of 330 consultants. Grayling works with clients across various sectors including Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Healthcare, Technology & Telecommunications, Consumer Brands and Travel & Tourism.

Jan Šimůnek said: “I am a big believer in the power of regional networks and intend to run Continental Europe on the basis of ‘micro-regions’, each of which will be connected together through one regional structure. This will ensure that each of our teams across Europe is fully integrated and will allow us to support clients looking to run campaigns on a single-country, micro-region or Europe-wide basis.”