Bradford & Bingley recruits four to strengthen marketing division

The Bradford & Bingley Building Society is bolstering its group marketing team with the appointment of four senior marketers in preparation for a 15m branding push next year.

Ruth Blakemore, the commercial director who joined five months after leaving Cable & Wireless, has created the new positions to expand the marketing department following the acquisitions of Mortgage Express in May 1997 and the Black Horse estate agency chain in April, for a total of 110m, from Lloyds TSB. All Black Horse outlets are to be rebranded under the Bradford & Bingley banner.

Blakemore has poached former C&W head of research and analysis Andrew Law to fill the slot of group head of customer management and analysis. He will manage all customer contact planning and customer research.

Former Bradford & Bingley marketing development manager Dave Wormall steps up to group head of communications, where he will be responsible for communicating the new corporate identity, still under development, both internally and externally.

Mark Stevens has quit management consultancy Mercer and will take up the post of group head of market strategy next week. Stevens will look for ways to market and protect Bradford & Bingley’s mutual status and to evaluate all potential business opportunities for the building society.

Finally, former Mortgage Express customer services director Sionnuala French becomes group head of direct customer channels. She will oversee marketing for Mortgage Express, Bradford & Bingley Direct Mortgages, which sells through the post, the society’s direct savings unit and its branch call centre and Internet strategy.

Bradford & Bingley spokesman James Evans says: “More emphasis will be placed on marketing and communications – brand differentiation is very important and we need to make sure the public understands our commitment to mutual status.”