Homebase top marketer steps down

Homebase chief marketer Andrea Preducov is stepping down from her role as head of brand marketing.

The move follows the acquisition of the DIY retailer by GUS, owner of the Argos Retail Group, in November last year for &£900m.

An ARG spokeswoman says: “Andrea Preducov has chosen to leave Homebase at the end of the July. A replacement will be appointed over the next few months.”Preducov, who has been with Homebase for four years, says that she is taking a break. She joined Homebase, when it was still owned by Sainsbury’s, in 1999 from Thomson, where she was head of advertising and branding.

In Preducov’s absence, brand communications manager Karen Gray will report to managing director Paul Loft, former head of GUS’s home shopping division, who joined the DIY retailer in February and took over control from former chief executive Rob Templeman.