Sources said that Russell, who joined the company as technical sales director in January 2001, will take up a new position at Tag on 4 January.

A spokeswoman for ES declined to either confirm or deny Russell's departure, but said that an official statement would be made early in the New Year.

Neither Russell nor Steve Parish, Tag Worldwide chief executive, were available for comment as PrintWeek went to press.

ES is also due to reveal details of its rebranding and repositioning, which was first announced in July (PrintWeek, 22 July 2004). The firm has consistently denied rumours that the BBDO-owned repro house is going to be absorbed and focus on serving other BBDO group firms.

Russell's departure comes at the end of an eventful two-year period at the firm. Russell replaced Steve Hobbs at the head of ES in April 2003 after Hobbs left the company.

At the beginning of 2004, Derek Bagnall, chief operating officer at BBDO's direct marketing agency Proximity, came on board to help revamp the firm.

As part of preparations for the rebranding, Electronic Solutions laid off 15 administration, middle management and facilities staff in September to bring the total headcount to 105 (PrintWeek, 30 September 2004). This followed a round of 18 redundancies in January 2002.

During 2004 ES also briefly employed industry veteran Marcus Kirby as technical production manager. Kirby joined from TFG, but left the firm this summer to join Fusion as a director (PrintWeek, 18 August).

Story by Josh Brooks