Egg poaches Selfridges man as marketing chief

Egg, the online financial services company, has poached Nick Cross from Selfridges to be its chief marketing officer.

Cross replaces Richard Duvall, who has become Egg’s international chief operating officer.

Cross starts in May and will report directly to Egg chief executive Paul Gratton. He will be responsible for aboveand below-the-line communications and the strategic development of the brand.

His past experience as international planning director at Bartle Bogle Hegarty is considered beneficial for his new role, as the company plans to expand overseas.

Cross says: “Egg has reached a critical stage in its development.

“I am looking forward to building on the tremendous work achieved with the brand to date, both strategically and creatively, as we consolidate our position in the UK and expand into new markets.”

Egg offers services which include banking, insurance, investments and mortgages. It has almost 1.5 million customers and a brand awareness level of 88 per cent.

Egg made a loss of &£155.3m in the year to December 2000, but is hopeful of returning a profit by cross-selling new products to existing customers.

Market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres has appointed Egg’s former retail marketing director, Tony Anderson, as its e-commerce director. Anderson left Egg in December by mutual consent.