Photo-Me hires Ernst & Young chief

Photo-Me International, the photo booth operator, has appointed former Ernst & Young and UHU marketer Graeme Warwick as general manager of sales and marketing.

Warwick joins as Photo-Me attempts to reinvent itself as an new technology company. In April, the company unveiled Internet-enabled photo booths called PhotoPlanet which it has developed with BT.

He had been sales director at accountancy company Ernst & Young for two years and was previously sales and marketing director at DIY brand UHU, where he worked for three years.

Warwick plans a review of Photo-Me marketing and advertising suppliers and is looking at appointing one agency to undertake a variety of creative and strategic tasks. The company has previously used agencies on a project basis.

Warwick will look at whether the Photo-Me or the brand names of different types of booth will be promoted in “hard-hitting” advertising to start in about six months.

Warwick says: “Photo-Me is moving from its role as a traditional photo booth organisation to a long-term future offering Net access through the BT partnership, with other exciting plans in new markets.”

The position of general manager sales and marketing is a new role at Photo-Me. Marketing project leader Nicola Ogborne, who has been in charge of marketing for the past year, will report to Warwick.

The PhotoPlanet booths offer Net access, online shopping, e-mail, customer web-space, photos and digital postcards. The company operates 6,000 booths in the UK and aims for 3,000 PhotoPlanets by the end of 2001, half of which will replace old ones.