Marketing chief joins top exodus from Tussaud’s

Tussaud’s Group, Britain’s largest private leisure attraction group, is seeking a new marketing director following the resignation of Jill Britton who is leaving the company without a job to go to.

Britton’s resignation follows that of chairman and chief executive Mike Jolly, who is stepping down to take a job as non-executive director of the company.

Britton says: “I have resigned from the company but have had great experiences working here. I just feel it is time to move on.”

As a main board director, Britton was part of the management buy-out team – backed by venture capital group Charterhouse Development Capital – that acquired Tussaud’s from Pearson for £353m a year ago.

Britton, who was appointed in 1997, was also involved in the company’s acquisition of Thorpe Park and recently masterminded the launch of Madame Tussaud’s in New York.

She oversaw the marketing for the whole group, which owns attractions including Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures and Madame Tussaud’s.

No replacement has been found for Jolly or Britton, although the Millennium Dome’s French chief executive, Pierre-Yves Gerbeau, is tipped to take over Jolly’s position.

BMP DDB is understood to have been appointed to handle the £1m advertising project for Madame Tussaud’s.