Pile becomes managing partner at Cogent Elliott

Tim Pile, the former chief executive of Sainsbury’s Bank, has been appointed managing partner of full service agency Cogent Elliott. He takes over from the agency’s owner and chairman Bill Husselby, who will remain on the board.

Pile will be responsible for overseeing the agency’s operations in London, Oxfordshire and the Midlands.

Pile left Sainsbury’s Bank suddenly in March this year (MW March 23). It was thought that his departure was the result of the bank’s poor performance. In May it reported a £10m loss compared with the previous year’s £17m profit. Sainsbury’s Bank is a joint venture between retail giant Sainsbury and HBOS.

Prior to Sainsbury’s Bank, Pile was director of marketing services for Lloyds TSB and business strategy and marketing director at Alliance and Leicester. He started his career at ad agency D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, where he rose to deputy managing director, before moving to Dewe Rogerson as managing director. He is active within the Marketing Society, the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers.