A senior figure in the marketing industry is switching careers to lead animal welfare charity HorseWorld Trust.

Jo Coombs is a former UK chief operating officer of one of the world’s largest marketing firms Publicis Groupe and is also an ex-CEO of marketing and PR firm Ogilvy.

After leaving Publicis, Coombs has returned to the Bristol area, where the charity is based and near to where she grew up on a farm in North Somerset.

HorseWorld rescues and rehomes horses that have suffered from maltreatment and neglect and also runs a programme where the animals support children with special education needs.

“My passion for horses and first-hand experience of the social, emotional and learning benefits they bring, coupled with my professional background in raising awareness and support for organisations and their services and products, is a great foundation for leading the charity through its next exciting chapter,” said Coombs.

“As children, my sisters and I thrived as a result of our involvement with horses. Now that I’ve moved back to Bristol, not only am I able to share my passion with my own two children, I have the opportunity to continue to grow the great work of HorseWorld’s Discovery programme – an equine assisted learning programme which has helped many hundreds of young people in the city.”

Coombs replaces Petra Ingram who announced earlier this year she is stepping down.

“I am delighted Jo is joining the HorseWorld team,” said HorseWorld chair Desi Dillingham.

“She has a huge amount of governance and business experience, this coupled with her hands-on knowledge of the equine world make her the perfect person to lead HorseWorld through the Charity’s next chapter. I have no doubt she will dedicate herself to the task of securing our future successes.”.

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