Littlewoods chief to head Royal Mail

Royal Mail has brought in a senior Littlewoods marketer, Gillian Wilmot, to replace its managing director for business and consumer markets, Jim Cotton-Betteridge.

Cotton-Betteridge is to retire after more than 30 years in the business, as first predicted in Marketing Week (May 4).

Wilmot, who is brand and strategy director at Littlewoods, joins the Royal Mail at the end of January. Prior to joining Littlewoods, Wilmot was vice-president of marketing at cosmetics company Avon, and marketing director of Next Directory.

Cotton-Betteridge, who was promoted from his role as sales and marketing director at Royal Mail last year, has been overseeing a major restructuring which slimmed it down from 15 to nine marketing units.