George P. Johnson grows EMEA team

George P. Johnson (GPJ) has made two further appointments in as many months, strengthening its European talent pool with new roles in creative and client services.

George Bear joins GPJ following 10 years’ creative resource experience gained at a multitude of shops across the wider agency spectrum, including FCB Inferno, JWT and WCRS. He started his career as operations manager at Publicis Modem, from where he was appointed to direct project management at iris, moving onto traffic management at SapientNitro.

Merethe’s Bergnord-Ashby appointment boosts GPJ’s Norwegian team, based in Oslo, bringing over 20 years of experience in planning, developing and implementing events at Nordic agencies, Gyro and Playroom Event. Her early career was spent client side, working for Warner Bros as marketing and PR manager. Following her brand role, Bergnord-Ashby then launched her agency career at Gyro, where she spent the next 12 years working across a plethora of projects for local clients.

Bear and Bergnord-Ashby’s appointments follow the recent hire of industry veteran John Farquhar-Smith, as executive producer of GPJ last month.

Jason Megson, GPJ’s managing director, UK & Nordics said; “I’m delighted to announce these hires across our European team. At this exciting time of growth, Merethe brings a unique wealth of Norwegian expertise to our expanding local client base; whilst George’s solid and diverse background supports our investment in GPJ’s creative capability.”