James Wilson has been appointed as general manager for South Africa and joins the company in January after being a client of the agency for the past five years. Both Sorour and Wilson will report to Chris Talago, EVP, general manager, EMEA.

“Today’s business environment requires a global mindset along with integrated thinking. Marcus and James both bring a strong track record to their next roles with leadership and a talent for growing businesses.” said Chris Talago, EVP, general manager at Waggener Edstrom EMEA.

Wilson comes to WE from Microsoft, where he was public relations lead for Microsoft West East Central Africa & Indian Ocean Islands. A seasoned public relations professional within the technology space, he brings a wealth of regional as well as agency leadership and corporate business relationships. He will work across a range of WE’s clients in South Africa and across the African continent including Nissan, WeChat, Microsoft, Mustek and SolarCentury.

Sorour grew the South Africa business at over 35% per year since its inception five years ago. He continues to have an impressive track record of winning business, building successful teams and turning out award-winning work. He is already well known to many of the UK team and clients having worked closely on a number of joint programmes and is a regular visitor to the WE UK office.

WE is also announcing new deputy general managers for each country. Sarah Kobus will serve as deputy general manager in South Africa. Nick Woods takes on responsibility as deputy general manger UK, in addition to leading the consumer practice and being Creative Director for EMEA. Both will play a key role in the transition process across these closely aligned regions. The two markets already collaborate closely across a number of clients including Eli Lilly and Microsoft. WE anticipates these hires will further accelerate this understanding and opportunity. The appointments signal strong momentum in the region and come on the back of recent account wins including Arqiva, Brightcove, Tommy’s, Digital Shoreditch, M4JAM, Nissan and WeChat.

For more information on WE, visit www.waggeneredstrom.com.