London, United Kingdom – Global marketing research firm YouGov has named Steve Hatch, recently the vice president for Northern Europe at Meta, as its new chief executive officer. Said appointment officially takes effect on August 1 this year.
Hatch will replace current YouGov CEO Stephan Shakespeare who will assume the role of non-executive chair at the company. Shakespeare will work closely with Hatch in the initial months of his appointment to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities at the company.
He has over 30 years of experience leading high-growth marketing, media, and technology companies. He was appointed as Facebook’s first regional director for the United Kingdom in 2014, overseeing a fundamental evolution of the platform. In 2016, he became Meta’s vice president for Northern Europe, managing all business operations and strategy for the region, driving the introduction of Meta’s e-commerce products, and development of the company’s insight tools.
Prior to joining Facebook, Hatch spent 15 years at WPP, his final role being CEO of media agency MEC. Before joining WPP, Steve worked in strategy roles at Omnicom and Y&R.
Speaking on his appointment, he said, “YouGov is a business I have closely followed and admired for some time. The company is in a strong position with a clear strategic direction and significant investment in technology and international reach driving robust client demand and consistent top-line growth performance in recent years.”
He added, “I look forward to working closely with Stephan, the wider board and the full YouGov team on the great opportunities ahead in the third strategic growth plan as we look to create further value for customers, partners, shareholders, and colleagues.”