WPP chief to unveil her essential rescue plan

Troubled WPP is facing a make-or-break moment next week as its chief executive prepares to announce a crucial strategy update.

Cindy Rose, who took charge of the advertising giant in September, is due to unveil her plans to revive the business alongside the marketing group’s annual results on Thursday. 

WPP is battling stiff competition from rivals and threats to the industry posed by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

Make-or-break: Cindy Rose is due to unveil her plans to revive the business alongside the marketing group’s annual results

The pressures have weighed heavily on the share price, which has fallen 63 per cent over the last 12 months.

Its decline saw the firm ejected from the FTSE 100 in December for the first time in nearly 30 years, in a dramatic fall from grace for what was once the world’s largest advertising agency.

Rose has sought to ease investors’ concerns by promising that the business will roll out AI across the company’s divisions.

She is also pushing through a major restructuring of the group to simplify WPP’s sprawling operations.

Claire Holubowskyj, senior research analyst at Enders Analysis, said that a restructuring by itself was unlikely to ‘move the dial’ until the results of any changes began to be reflected in the advertising giant’s finances.