Brands2Life is handing operational leadership to longtime executives Kate Smith and Will Campbell as founders Giles Fraser and Sarah Scales step back from day-to-day management. The transition, announced on November 4, 2026, places the British communications agency under its next generation of leaders while keeping both founders involved in senior client relationships.
The decision is more than an internal promotion. Since becoming part of Nordic agency group Paritee in late 2023, Brands2Life has had to balance its founder-led identity with the management demands of a wider network. The new arrangement tests whether established client relationships and an agency’s culture can remain stable as decision-making passes to executives who have built their careers inside the business.
Key Takeaways
- Brands2Life founders Giles Fraser and Sarah Scales are moving out of day-to-day leadership, with Kate Smith and Will Campbell taking charge.
- The founders will continue supporting key clients, while several agency executives assume additional roles across parent group Paritee.
- Clients should confirm their executive sponsor and escalation contacts during the leadership handover rather than assuming relationships will operate exactly as before.
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What changes at Brands2Life
Smith and Campbell are taking responsibility for the agency’s next phase, according to PRovoke Media’s November 4 report. PRWeek describes the arrangement as the appointment of co-CEOs. Both successors previously held senior responsibilities in the agency’s business and technology practice, rather than arriving as outside turnaround hires.
Fraser and Scales founded Brands2Life in 2000. The agency expanded beyond technology PR into consumer, healthcare, digital and corporate communications, as well as into the United States. Its ownership history included a majority employee-owned trust before it joined Paritee. These steps help explain why succession carries more significance than an ordinary executive reshuffle: leadership continuity is connected to the agency’s ability to preserve a distinct identity inside a larger group.
In the announcement reported by PRovoke, Fraser and Scales said: “This is the right moment to let a new generation take it forward.” The founders also pointed to a strong recent trading year, although the announcement did not provide independently audited current-year financial figures. Their continued client-facing roles suggest the agency intends a gradual transfer of relationships rather than an immediate separation.
How Paritee fits into the transition
The leadership changes extend beyond the Brands2Life boardroom. Paritee has assigned wider responsibilities to established agency executives, including André Labadie in technology, Emily Thomas in healthcare, Kinda Jackson in digital, social and influencer, and Carolyn Irwin in corporate communications. Other changes cover brand, the affiliate network, UK operations and group marketing. The appointments matter because they distribute specialist leadership across the parent rather than confining it to a single London agency.
The apparent logic is operational integration. A multinational client buying communications services may need locally accountable teams and access to specialist capabilities across markets. A group that promotes experienced operating leaders can make these services easier to coordinate, but titles alone do not establish whether integration improves delivery. That depends on shared budgets, reporting responsibilities and which leaders are empowered to make staffing decisions.
Brands2Life’s position is unusual in one practical respect: it built a substantial reputation as an independent technology communications agency before joining a wider network. An incoming leadership team therefore faces competing expectations. Longtime clients may value the relationships and judgement associated with its founders, while group management has incentives to improve collaboration across agencies and specialties.
As a comparison point, Edelman’s recent Japan succession also involved a planned transition rather than a sudden external replacement. The ownership and scale differ, but both cases underscore that the timing and clarity of responsibility can be as important for clients as the new title on a leadership chart.
What clients should watch
For existing clients, the immediate question is whether the same people will remain accountable for strategy, senior counsel and escalation. The founders’ continuing advisory and relationship roles may reduce disruption, but clients should still expect a period in which decisions and communication routes are clarified.
First, confirm the executive sponsor. A client whose senior relationship historically sat with Fraser or Scales should establish whether Smith, Campbell or another named leader will own strategic reviews and commercial decisions. That is particularly important for accounts involving more than one Paritee agency or market.
Second, check the operational handoff. Ask which roles are changing, whether account leadership and delivery teams will remain intact, and who can authorize additional resources when a campaign or reputational issue becomes urgent. A clearly documented escalation map is more useful than general assurances about continuity.
Third, evaluate network benefits on actual work. Paritee’s broader specialist structure could make it easier for a technology client to tap healthcare, corporate or social expertise. Clients should assess that promise through integrated planning, measurable delivery responsibilities and a transparent fee structure instead of assuming that a larger organizational chart automatically provides greater capability.
There is no verified evidence in the announcement of immediate client losses, layoffs or a wholesale strategic change. The test over coming months is simpler: whether the new leaders retain client confidence, maintain the culture that helped build the agency and make the wider group’s capabilities useful in day-to-day assignments.