Parkin leaves Rodney Fitch to join US group

Paul Parkin, creative director at Rodney Fitch Design Consultants, is to leave to head a new creative resource at Interbrand Schechter’s San Francisco office.

Parkin will be creative director at the San Francisco office, which until now has not had any creatives. He describes the job as “a fantastic opportunity”.

Parkin joined the three-year-old consultancy from Coley Porter Bell last summer alongside fellow CPB director Kate Irving. Joint chief executive Irving left Rodney Fitch Design Consultants earlier this year (DW 2 May).

Parkin says: “Rodney Fitch is very much a retail design company. Working for Interbrand will be working for a type of client and a market I am a lot happier with. My background is not so much in retail but in corporate work and brands.”

A spokeswoman for Interbrand Schechter says growth in work has shown the demand is there for a creative team based in San Francisco. Parkin says details of the team, including numbers, have yet to be agreed.

A date has not yet been agreed for Parkin to leave Rodney Fitch Design Consultants.

Parkin’s departure adds to the turmoil at the graphics and interiors consultancy. The loss of Parkin and Irving follows seven redundancies in March.

Chairman Rodney Fitch is sanguine: “Paul has been offered a terrific job and we congratulate him and he goes with our best wishes.” Fitch says he hasn’t yet thought about a replacement.

He says Parkin’s departure after a year is “a bit of a nuisance for us”. He adds that he is “to sort out what the appropriate structure is for the business” and continues to search for a “senior executive”.