Airtours hires Norweb boss to head retail arm

Airtours has appointed Tim Marsden as marketing director of its retail division.

Marsden, who will head the company’s Going Places, Holidayworld and Travelworld brands, replaces David Chambers, who was ousted in March (MW March 8).

Marsden joins from Norweb Energi, where he was marketing director. Before that he was general manager of marketing at Co-operative Retail Society.

Reporting to Airtours managing director Dave Harris, Marsden will oversee the company’s £6m advertising budget. Harris himself was brought in at the start of this year, and has already made a number of key changes. As well as ousting Chambers, he has axed six other directors.

Airtours recently announced it was closing 82 Going Places and 38 Travelworld shops, cutting the number of retail outlets to 720. The company believes that more consumers want to book holidays over the telephone.

“I am confident that, with a fresh prospective and creative approach, we can differentiate ourselves on the high street,” says Marsden.

Until recently, Going Places’ advertising account was with CDP but that relationship ended last year. The company now uses agencies on a project basis.