Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

GlobalMedia Announces New Chief Executive Officer

Following the successful merger in December of search marketing agencies bigmouthmedia and GlobalMedia, bigmouthmedia founder Steve Leach has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Global Media GmbH.

Heading up the company's 11 offices worldwide and over 200 staff, Leach will replace Thomas Gerteis as group Chief Executive Officer.

Speaking about the move, Gerteis commented:

"The past few months have been an exciting time for GlobalMedia with rapid expansion and amazing growth. It's been a whirlwind and it's time for me to step back, take a breather and enjoy some time with my family. I am delighted to leave GlobalMedia in Steve's capable hands. He has an excellent team working across both brands. We have worked together to complete a hugely successful integration and the combined company is going from strength to strength."

The merger in December was backed by The Carlyle Group through its European technology fund, Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP). Speaking about Leach's appointment, Nazo Moosa of The Carlyle Group said:

"We're very pleased that Steve has accepted the role. Carlyle facilitated the merger between GlobalMedia and bigmouthmedia with the clear intention of building a leader in the online marketing sector in Europe. With the integration of the two businesses now complete we are once again looking to expand the business both through organic growth and through acquisitions.

Steve originally founded bigmouthmedia in 1997 and within a decade had developed it into a company with 100 staff and blue chip clients including British Airways, Hilton and Barclays. Following the announcement, Leach said:

"I'm very excited about this move. Thomas has built a fantastic brand with GlobalMedia in Germany and across Europe and Asia, and the synergy between the two companies has made the group an enviable brand in the digital marketing industry. It will be an exciting challenge for me to step into this role and I can't wait to get stuck in."

The GlobalMedia group is the largest independent search agency in Europe with offices in New York, Munich, Milan, Oslo, Paris, Seoul and Stockholm as well as 3 in the UK.

Notes to Editor:

About bigmouthmedia and GlobalMedia:

Bigmouthmedia, part of the Global Media Group is a leading digital marketing agency with 6 locations in the UK, Mainland Europe and the USA. Servicing over 300 clients across all sectors, ranging from SME’s to major global brands, bigmouthmedia offers a range of search engine marketing services leveraged to offer its clients maximum return for their online investment.

Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia has offices in Edinburgh, Manchester, London and New York, Stockholm and Oslo and counts among its clients British Airways, Barclays, Tesco and Hilton.
Parent company GlobalMedia was founded in Manchester in 1996 and has a further 5 offices in Hamburg, Milan, Munich, Paris and Seoul and clients including AOL and lastminute.com.

Bigmouthmedia was named the AXA Small to Medium Business of the Year at the 2006 National Business Awards, with comments from the judges including: “Successful on a global scale.

Impressive, knowledgeable” and “A real market leading service performed exceptionally well." The company was named as one of FT's "Best Places to Work 2007"

Bigmouthmedia press contact:
Emily Thorpe
Marketing Manager
Bigmouthmedia Ltd UK
51 Timber Bush
Edinburgh
EH6 6QH
Tel: (+44)131 561 2179
Fax (+44)131 553 6800
http://www.bigmouthmedia.com/