Nichols to appoint head of consumer marketing

Vimto soft drinks brand owner Nichols is seeking to fill the newly created role of head of marketing for consumer brands.

The appointment will oversee all of Nichols’ consumer marketing and work in tandem with Nigel Follos, recently promoted to the new position of head of out-of-home marketing. Both will report to group managing director Gary Unsworth.

The company’s retail soft drink brands include Vimto, Indigo and Sunkist. Each brand has a marketing manager who will report to the new head of marketing. The company uses CheethamBellJWT for advertising and has just signed a promotional deal with Nintendo to tie up with Pokémon games for a roadshow and on-pack promotion.

Nichols, formerly JN Nichols (Vimto), is based in the North-west and made up of several consumer divisions. These include Vimto Soft Drinks; exporter Nichols International; hot beverage vending system Balmoral; and Cabana Soft Drinks, which supplies the licensed trade, leisure and catering markets with syrups for soft drinks on draught.

The company has an annual turnover of more than &£100m and was founded on the Vimto cordial formulated by John Noel Nichols. The family still owns 20 per cent of the company and John Nichols, grandson of the founder, is the chairman.

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