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WPP’s Brand Union promotes Toby Southgate to worldwide CEO
MUMBAI: WPP’s global brand strategy and design agency Brand Union has promoted Toby Southgate to worldwide CEO, effective 1 July.
Southgate will manage the growth of the global network while to continuing his responsibilities in the Americas. He will remain based in New York and will report to Brand Union and FITCH group CEO Simon Bolton.
“Toby is a true professional in our industry and a trusted adviser to senior clients all around our network. He has a unique thought process and leadership style that enables him to have compelling conversations with clients, prospects and talent alike. I have no doubt Toby has what it takes to step into this role on a worldwide stage and take Brand Union to the next level,” said Bolton.
In this new role, Southgate will be responsible for leading the growth of Brand Union across each of its 24 markets. He will manage all of Brand Union’s international teams and lead collaboration with other WPP agencies, delivering on the group’s ‘horizontality’ strategy.
“I love this business and I’m proud to be leading Brand Union beyond the traditional definition of branding. I’m delighted Simon has given me the chance to lead the network. Brand Union is all about creating brilliantly designed and beautifully connected experiences for our clients and their brands. There is much more to come,” said Southgate.
Southgate brings extensive Brand Union experience to this role, having joined the agency in 2008. He has held a number of roles including Brand Union Middle East managing director, Brand Union UK CEO and most recently, CEO Americas. In his latest role, he helped grow the agency’s footprint leading the acquisition of Epigram, a Brazilian brand and communications agency, in 2014.
He has been a key player in the agency’s business development over the last seven years, bringing in major clients like The Coca-Cola Company, Vodafone, Shazam, GlaxoSmithKline and CBRE.
CBRE global chief marketing officer Paul Suchman said, “Toby’s partnership and dedication to our business has been nothing short of outstanding. Under his leadership, Brand Union has helped us find a powerful global voice and significantly strengthen our brand equity in every market we serve.”
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Beacon Group appoints Dr Rajesh Patel as Group CEO
36-year healthcare veteran to lead Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek, Biogeny.
MUMBAI: A new chief, a fresh diagnosis and a sharper prescription for growth. Beacon Group has appointed Dr Rajesh Patel as its Group Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026, signalling a decisive push to scale its presence in the diagnostics and IVD space. Patel steps into the role with 36 years of experience across the healthcare and diagnostics industry, bringing a career shaped by leadership roles spanning sales, marketing, business development and operational strategy. His mandate is both expansive and precise: to steer the group’s overall strategic direction while tightening coordination across its three core entities Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek and Biogeny Diagnostics.
In practical terms, that means driving cross-company synergies, accelerating market expansion and strengthening organisational capability areas increasingly critical as diagnostic players compete for scale in a fragmented yet rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem. The group is positioning itself to capture unmet demand across chain laboratories, key accounts and standalone labs, segments that remain underserved despite growing diagnostic needs.
The appointment comes at a time when the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) sector in India is entering a more competitive and innovation-led phase, with companies focusing not just on product pipelines but also on service delivery, integration and customer-centric models. Beacon’s leadership appears to be betting that Patel’s execution-focused approach can help translate ambition into operational momentum.
Welcoming the appointment, Chairman Dr D K Joshi described Patel’s induction as a strategic move aligned with the group’s long-term vision, emphasising the role of leadership depth in navigating the next phase of growth.
For Beacon Group, the message is clear, in a sector where precision matters, leadership is the new differentiator—and this appointment is intended to set the tone for what comes next.
