Christopher Ward appoints Baumann new COO

Christopher Ward has a new chief operating officer. The luxury watch brand has appointed seasoned advertising and marketing executive Sarah Baumann to the post, effective 23 September.

She most recently was managing director of social media and influencer agency The Wild by Jungle for a year until March.

Prior to that, she spent more than three years as managing director of VaynerMedia in London after serving as director of marketing at People’s Vote UK, a campaign calling for a referendum on the UK’s final Brexit deal.

Baumann also worked at creative agency Leo Burnett for almost 17 years rising to deputy chief executive.

She said: “Aside from its extraordinary growth and highly engaged community of watch-lovers, Christopher Ward is making waves within one of the world’s most established industries because of its vision, design, quality and value of its product.

“The opportunity is enormous, and I am absolutely thrilled to be joining Mike, Peter and their talented team for the next chapter of Christopher Ward’s expansion.”

The company, founded by Christopher Ward, Mike France and Peter Ellis in 2004, reported an almost doubled turnover to £30.5 million for the year to 31 March, up from £16.8 million a year ago. Pre-tax profits also rocketed to £3.9 million from £0.22 million.