Imagination appoints Richard Hannah as its new UK Managing Director

Maggie Hanson Business, Creativity, Digital & Media, Marketing

Imagination, the award-winning Global Experience Design Company, has announced Richard Hannah’s appointment as Managing Director for Imagination UK. In this role, Richard will report to Imagination’s CEO, Patrick Reid, and will oversee all client and business needs for the UK, focusing on driving growth in Imagination’s core offers – Consulting, Destinations, Content and Live.

Richard will be supported by the senior management team that includes several new positions from within the business; Georgina Crichton as Director of Operations, Christophe Castagnera as Director and Head of Strategy, and Matt Rose as Head of Live Production.

The senior team will nurture and build a culture of Independent Creativity to create the most innovative and effective experiences for clients – and will also focus on encouraging next-generation talent with a broad DE&I agenda.

Joining Imagination 17 years ago, Richard initially worked on projects for Jaguar Land Rover and Ford North America before moving to focus on new business development. After a period consulting in the construction sector, Richard returned to Imagination in 2014 as Business Director leading all new business efforts.

In his most recent role as Client Services Director, EMEA, Richard has been instrumental in winning and delivering programmes of work for a diverse range of new clients, including: Costa Coffee, Coca-Cola, Turkish Airlines and, more recently, Visa and the Qatar 2022 World Cup. 

Commenting on his appointment, Richard said: “This has been a challenging 18 months for our whole industry and I’m super proud to be leading such an innovative, dedicated and creative group of people forward as we redefine the power and impact of experiences for our clients.”

Patrick Reid, CEO, Imagination added: “I am delighted to promote Richard to the role of Managing Director. Richard and his senior leadership team will be responsible for expanding and diversifying the UK business through new and existing growth opportunities in our four core offers, creating world-class experiences for our clients. He will also focus on the development of our people, attracting new talent and shaping our culture. Richard has been an invaluable asset to Imagination over the years, and I’m excited for the future of the UK business with Richard at the helm.”

This series of appointments follow the recent hire of Tom Gray as Chief Strategy Officer and Imagination’s win of Brand Experience Agency EMEA, at Campaign’s Agency of the Year Awards.

Imagination is an Experience Design Company headquartered in London, with 14 offices worldwide. Founded over 50 years ago on a principle of Independent Creativity – we bring together diverse groups of strategic, creative and practical people who remain free to find the right answers to client challenges. We remain independent to this day. We have earned a reputation for consistently challenging and changing the status quo, through our core offers of Consulting, Destinations, Content and Live. Imagination’s clients include Ford, IKEA, LVMH, Samsung, Jaguar Land Rover, HSBC, Major League Baseball, Mastercard, Turkish Airlines, Shell, AWS and Telstra.