Kreab Gavin Anderson appoints managing partner in China

Grimmer is charged with overseeing the market’s operations from its Beijing bureau for both multinational and domestic corporations.

He spent 11 years with the Credit Suisse Group in positions ranging from Asia-Pacific head of corporate communications for Credit Suisse First Boston, based in Hong Kong, to regional senior communications advisor, based in Beijing.

Grimmer has additionally headed up corporate communications for Hong Kong investment bank Peregrine Investments and has worked as a journalist for titles including the South China Morning Post, the Globe & Mail in Canada and Xinhua News Agency.

According to Grimmer, he is charged with helping international clients navigate through corporate and government relations and advise domestic companies on corporate social responsibility, consumer awareness and safety issues just at the time when the corporate industry is maturing in the market. “There is a lot to be done in the local PR industry in China itself, never mind what is [needed by] multinationals,” he said.

He will report to Kreab Gavin Anderson’s London-based president and CEO Richard Constant and Richard Barton, managing partner of Asia (excluding Japan) in Hong Kong.

According to Barton, Grimmer was appointed to strengthen the agency’s ties to the financial industry and bolster its offerings in China, adding that Grimmer’s hire will benefit both “major multinational corporations looking to operate inside China as well as companies looking to go global from China”.