The change, taking place with immediate effect today (19 June), will see Dimitri Kyprianou, previously managing director of Go Inspire CX, move into an overarching managing director role and join the Xerox EMEA senior leadership team.
Headley will continue with the business in a consultative role for the next 12 months before formally retiring.
He first joined Go Inspire in 1993, six months after it was founded, before progressing through the business in a variety of roles. He went on to lead an MBO in 2016, over £20m of investment in technology and people in the past five years and, most recently, the sale of the group to Xerox.
During his tenure, Go Inspire Group has grown into a £90m-turnover business with more than 400 staff working across two factories in Leicester and Kettering, and most recently a digital and CX hub in London.
Headley said he was “immensely grateful” for his career with Go Inspire.
He stated: “I have been fortunate to work with some incredible people over the years, and I’d like to extend my thanks to my talented team and colleagues at Go Inspire and Xerox; I am so proud of the company we have built together. And the wonderful clients we work with.”
Speaking to Printweek today, he added: “I always thought I would give the new venture a year. Xerox are a really big and successful business but I think when you’re an entrepreneur like I am and you’ve run your own business for so long, there was a sense of achievement in many respects when we sold out to them in July last year, but I think for me it was always going to be only a period of time that I was going to stay there in reality.
“I talked to Xerox about Dimitri being my successor, because I think he will do an amazing job, and basically it all just seemed like the right time to do something.
“I would never have done it if I didn’t have the right replacement – it’s very important to me that the business carries on very successfully, which we have been doing under Xerox. They’re very happy with us as an acquisition, and I’m very pleased to have been part of that.”
Headley added that after his year’s notice period comes to an end, he will then consider what might come next, which could include non-executive roles or looking at ways to help other businesses grow.
Kyprianou joined Go Inspire in 2021. He played an instrumental role as lead in the acquisition of Go Inspire by Xerox, as well as transforming the group’s CX division into an award-winning data-led agency, enhancing both Go Inspire and Xerox’s offering.
He commented: “I am honoured to be given this opportunity. To carry forward the torch, building on Pat’s legacy and embracing our new home as a Xerox business.
“On behalf of Go Inspire, we thank him for his support, dedication, and tireless pursuit of excellence as we celebrate his achievements as CEO.”
Kyprianou’s previous position likely won’t be directly replaced, Headley added, “as we were bringing the businesses together anyway, that was part of the strategy – we’ve been talking a lot about becoming one Go Inspire”.
Kyprianou added: “I see an exciting future ahead as one Go Inspire where we continue to strive for marketing performance excellence for our customers as we expand our horizons into new arenas.
“Whilst we fully intend to remain at the forefront of innovation in physical media, our combined Xerox, Go Inspire portfolio provides us with the perfect platform to place ourselves at the heart of our clients’ people, planet, profit ambitions orchestrating and harmonising the millions of interactions that happen each day across their brands with customers, citizens and business partners.
“It’s an exciting place to be as we strive to act more responsibly and ethically in a rapidly evolving consumer landscape.”
