From Chief People Officer to Chief Executive Officer… OLIVER promotes Amina Folarin to UK Group CEO, putting talent, teamwork and technology at the heart of the UK growth strategy

OLIVER – the world’s only company to exclusively design, build and run in-house agencies and marketing ecosystems for brands – has named Amina Folarin as its new UK Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Folarin steps over from her role as Global Chief Inclusion and People Officer to become the UK’s new chief. Given her five-year, award-winning, tenure at the helm of the company’s international HR operation ~ where she grew the business’ internal recruitment and DE&I teams, as well as secured a #40 spot on The Times’ Best Place to Work list ~ Folarin was first-choice to empower OLIVER’s people and support brands through their next stage of organisational efficiency, talent acquisition, internal innovation and growth.

Sharon Whale, Deputy Group CEO at OLIVER and the Inside Ideas Group, said:
“We looked for someone that could be a brands’ closest partner; someone with ambition, fresh thinking, problem-solving aptitude, organisational know-how and the ability to inspire 1000 people and 60 teams across the UK.

“Despite the challenges of the last few years, we’ve remained one of the fastest-growing marketing companies globally. We’ve also remained intensely people-first and operationally-slick, and that’s down to Amina’s directorship. There’s no one that knows how businesses work better, or that cares more about building better. We’re looking forward to her steering the next era of marketing with our teams and our clients.”

Taking a fresh approach to C-Suite roles, Amina will appoint a new senior team to help take the UK towards its growth, innovation, sustainability and DE&I goals ~ all of which she will personally spearhead.

Folarin said: “As an Agency of the Year winner two years running, the UK has long been OLIVER’s most recognised market ~ one that I am very excited to help take to its next stage of maturity. Despite the economic disruption, we will remain focused on solving the challenges of modern marketing while making the business a force for good in the world.”

Folarin joined OLIVER and the Inside Ideas Group as HR Director in 2016. She is a two-time BIMA 100 winner and a trustee for Action Aid UK. She led the people function for the Inside Ideas Group (consisting of OLIVER, Dare, Adjust Your Set, OLIVER AF and MORE) through its fast trajectory; sourcing talent for hundreds of brands globally, launching award-winning Change Makers and Kickstarter programmes, ensuring retention during The Mass Resignation, building a top-down culture of inclusivity, achieving industry-leading Peakon satisfaction scores, establishing a 50/50 gender split, beating the national average consistently for gender pay gap and diverse representation as well as launching a bespoke Masters programme for OLIVER’s future leaders. Most recently, her team created the industry’s first open-sourced anti-racism policy.

Today, 80% of World Federation of Advertisers’ member-brands have an in-house agency, with more expected to in-house marketing capability in 2023. OLIVER UK pioneered the in-house agency model in 2004 and has since grown to be the leading partner for brands in this space. The UK arm of the business has grown exponentially yoy since 2019. In 2021, it was nominated in six Agency of the Year categories by Campaign and, in the last three years, has ranked high in Adweek’s Fastest Growing list (US).

Amina’s role as UK Group CEO starts from 1st January 2023.

Source: OLIVER UK

  Agency, Amina Folarin, Chief Executive Officer, Inside Ideas Group, OLIVER, UK