Close-Up: Newsmaker - Howell breaks rather than bends to New York.(EMEA's Rupert Howell)

EMEA's lifesaver Rupert Howell was never going to agree with John Dooner's plans for the region, James Hamilton writes.

When Rupert Howell and John Dooner met in New York last week to discuss changes to the McCann Erickson regional management, a 'frank exchange' of views was likely to be on the cards.

Neither the outgoing president and regional director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, nor the global McCann chief executive are known for mincing their words, so when Howell disagreed with Doo-ner over the latter's plans for the network's regional structure, an amicable parting was always going to be the only way out for the former HHCL & Partners founder.

Howell's departure is, all parties stress, nothing to do with the level of success McCann has experienced in Europe. Nor is it down to what is often viewed as the network's weakened grip on General Motors in the region - European offices have won five of the last eight GM pitches, a source points out.

In his three-and-a-half years at the agency, Howell has presided over a number of new-business wins and the overhaul of the agency's creative reputation. He argues its creative product has improved beyond recognition and points to the European new-business league tables, which McCann has topped for the past two years, as evidence of its new financial backbone.

'I'm sad to be leaving the outstanding team I've assembled in EMEA and I am truly proud of our achievements together,' Howell says. 'We took a disparate and poorly perfoming region and turned it into the success story of McCann and IPG.'

'When Rupert joined us in 2003, McCann EMEA was going through a difficult period, which is precisely the kind of challenge that Rupert relishes. In just four years, he not only has restored the confidence and growth of the region, but helped position it for further expansion We wish him all good things,' Dooner says.