Close-up: Profile - Publicis reflects as Lindsay heads for TBWA.(Tim Lindsay)(TBWA Group )

Tim Lindsay, the outgoing chairman of Publicis, should rediscover his roots at creative-centred TBWA.

Sinking ships and tumbleweed were among the cliches conjured by Publicis critics even before it emerged last week that Tim Lindsay, the UK chairman, was off to Omnicom's TBWA Group to be its chief executive.

The timing of his exit turns Publicis' unfortunate story into melodrama. When Grant Duncan, the group's then chief executive, resigned in March, off the back of more than pounds 70 million worth of account losses, Lindsay took on his responsibilities, insisting: 'In a few weeks, when everything has calmed down and we're through this, we'll still be profitable and doing good work.'

And perhaps that much was true. It just didn't account for the fact that the agency would be doing it without a chairman, chief executive or managing director.

Lindsay is aware of how his decision looks to observers, but denies he is defecting from an agency fallen on hard times. As someone often pinpointed for his vanity, it's little wonder he is keen not to be classified as a turncoat.

'I promised myself I would preside over the agency and see it back on its feet,' he says. 'Together with management, I've done that. We've changed the way the agency works, broken down walls, fixed processes, and made the agency more transparent for our existing clients, while picking up big pieces of business from across the network and from acquisitions.'

To some extent, this is endorsed by the recent formation of Publicis Modem, the smoother integration of Publicis Dialog with the main agency, and some recent global wins, including Airbus and Citibank. But it also exemplifies the wider disparity between the Publicis group chairman role and an adman who has made his way through the industry's most creative corridors.