Roughead joins Visitscotland

Guinness World Records marketer Malcolm Roughead has been appointed to the role of marketing director for the newly restructured and rebranded Visitscotland, formerly called the Scottish Tourist Board (STB).

Roughead will have overall responsibility for marketing. The move follows a restructure which has seen the number of directors at the body cut from seven to three. The decision was made following recommendations by management consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Prior to the changes, STB’s marketing department was split into three divisions: Gerry Bell, director of marketing, advertising; Mike Young, director of marketing, production; and Katie Rutherford, director of marketing, international.

No one at Visitscotland could confirm what was happening to these three positions, although discussions between the organisation and Young, Bell and Rutherford are ongoing.

While at Guinness World Records, as global sales and marketing director, Roughead was responsible for taking the publication online. He has held various positions with Guinness in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and previously worked for Nestlé and Beechams.

Hugh Hall has been appointed director of corporate services. He was previously director of strategy, performance and regulation at Scottish Homes. The position of director of industry services has yet to be filled, and Visitscotland is still looking for a replacement for chief executive Tom Buncle.

Buncle left in November after a steady decline in tourist numbers.

Visitscotland’s &£5m account is handled by 1576, with media buying by Feathers Brooksbank. It is not known if a review will be called.