BAA lures marketing director

BAA, the airport management company, has poached Sainsbury’s Bank marketing director David Noble to be its first head of financial services.

It is understood Noble will take responsibility for developing BAA’s e-commerce.

Noble took up his position this week. He reports to group retail marketing director Barbara Beckett.

Noble has been brought in to develop the company’s financial services, and will build a team to work with him. It is not known if this team will include a marketing director.

BAA’s financial services are confined to the WorldCard – an affinity card launched at the end of last year in a joint venture with Bank of Scotland, which co-owns Noble’s former employer Sainsbury’s Bank.

BAA is looking at developing a range of financial services as a strategy to off-set losses resulting from the abolition of European duty-free sales.

The drive is also reported to include plans for a string of Net cafés in the style of EasyJet’s easyEverything chain.

Noble spent nearly 15 years at Sainsbury’s before moving to its banking operation. His duties have been taken over by director of product development Graham McCarte.

McCarte says the bank is deciding whether to replace Noble directly or change the role.

Sainsbury’s recently moved its eight-person marketing department from London to Edinburgh in an effort to integrate it with Bank of Scotland’s infrastructure.