EMAP chief to take on Barclays marketing role

Barclays has poached EMAP’s marketing director of consumer magazines, Simon Gulliford, to be its first group marketing director.

Gulliford starts on May 14 and will be responsible for developing branding as well as creating an integrated marketing strategy for the group, which includes Barclaycard and Woolwich.

Gulliford will report to chief administration officer Gary Dibb on overall group work and deputy group chief executive John Stewart on specific retail work.

Gulliford says: “I am looking forward to working with the family of brands within the group and to establishing Barclays clearly as a market leader in the many fields in which it competes.”

Gulliford joined EMAP in 1997 and was responsible for creating the company’s brand-driven approach to products such as FHM magazine. He was also behind the creation and launch of Red and Heat magazines.

Barclays group chief executive Matt Barrett says: “Gulliford will bring a fresh perspective and innovative thinking as we transform Barclays into a customer-led organisation.”

Barclays operates in 60 countries and employs 70,300 people, 52,300 of which work in the UK. The group has 16 million customers.