𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

WPP has announced plans to make £500 million of cost savings that will involve cutting jobs and streamlining units as part of a sweeping restructure.

The global advertising and communications company has unveiled the strategic plan, which it thinks will take several years to complete.

Chief executive Cindy Rose said the recent “underperformance” of the company had been driven by “excessive organisational complexity”.

She added: “While disappointing, I see huge potential as these issues are all within our power to fix and we’re already making great progress.”

It comes after the business revealed its profits plunged more than 70% last year.

The plan will involve restructuring WPP into a single company, rather than a holding company with a swathe of operating units.

It will be reorganised into four core units: WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions, across four global regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific.

All four divisions will be connected through WPP Open, its artificial intelligence-powered marketing platform.

It is understood the changes are expected to result in a reduction of jobs, with WPP targeting duplicated roles and aiming to simplify its organisational structure.

The company did not specify which or how many roles will be impacted.

It hopes to find annual cost savings worth £500 million by 2028.

WPP revealed last July it had slashed its workforce by around 4,000 since the start of the year.

Job losses were largely focused on its WPP Media business, while it also moved to reduce its workforce through natural staff turnover to cut costs in the face of tougher trading.

Alongside the strategic update, WPP revealed an operating profit of £382 million for 2025, down 71% on the previous year.

Underlying revenues declined by 5.4% year-on-year, with a bigger drop in the UK, which was impacted by client losses and spending cuts.

Ms Rose, the former head of Microsoft UK who joined the company last year, has been driving a turnaround of the business since stepping into the top job.

This has included overseeing new client contracts including the UK Government, and firms Pizza Hut, Major League Soccer, Reckitt and Jaguar Land Rover for projects around the world.

She said: “My first six months as CEO have only reinforced my conviction that WPP is an extraordinary company.

“As our clients navigate uncertainty, AI disruption and macro-volatility, we’re looking ahead with a clear and focused mission: to be the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands in the era of AI.