Powell quits Barclaycard to join Thomson Holidays

Barclaycard commercial director Shaun Powell is leaving the company to join Thomson Holidays as marketing director.

He fills the role vacated by Richard Bowden-Doyle who was promoted to deputy managing director last autumn. Bowden-Doyle retained control of marketing until last week, when he was made managing director (MW April 24). In his new role, Powell will also be in charge of sales for the travel company.

Powell becomes marketing director of the Thomson division that is concerned with short- and long-haul beach holidays – by far the bulk of the company’s holiday business. Thomson’s other division handles specialised holidays. This division is headed by commercial director Steve Garley.

Powell will be responsible for continuing Thomson’s “Tells it like it is” campaign, launched last year. This is intended to position the company as unique in the market by “telling the truth” about its own holiday destinations through the results of customer surveys which appear in the company’s brochures. The strategy is backed by an ad campaign through BMP DDB.

Powell has been with Barclaycard for four years. Before that he was marketing controller at Homepride, which he joined from Sterling Health.

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