There is a big plan for growth at The Garden, and those plans will be led by industry veteran Andy Macaulay, who has joined the agency in the newly created role of Chief Growth Officer.

Macaulay is the former founding partner at Zig, a former partner at Roche Macaulay and Partners (later Lowe Roche) and current partner at consultancy firm Metapurpose, with which he will continue to work in addition to his new role with The Garden. He has also previously served as a managing director at Rethink and chairman at Union, and is among the most recognized industry leaders in Canada.

He first began working with The Garden more than two years ago in an informal role, mentoring co-founder Shane Ogilvie and business partner Shari Walczak and assisting on new business. “The chemistry was good and we were aligned on a vision for The Garden moving forward,” says Ogilvie. “That led us to create a more permanent role for Andy within the agency.”

In his new role, Macaulay will work alongside Ogilvie – who recently stepped back from day-to-day creative leadership to take on a more strategic role focused on client relationships and business development – to lead the implementation of the agency’s new growth strategy. That strategy will include new business and increased staffing, but also the expansion of in-house production and data analytics capabilities. Macaulay says he will also “help define” the business challenges the agency is facing “and help execute new solutions.”

“I love the way they work and the way they treat not only each other and their staff, but also their clients,” adds Macaulay. “When assessing a new role, I consider talent and how they approach the challenges faced by their clients, but the character of the people involved is far more important to me.”

The Garden has been adding staff alongside expanding mandates with Sodastream – which it won last fall – and Roots, Jack Astor’s and Fitzrovia, as well as new business wins including TG Appliances and RBC Ventures-backed Ownr.