Greene King marketer bags leased pub role

Greene King Brewing Company marketing director Sue Thomas-Taylor has been promoted to commercial director for Greene King Pub Partners, the tenanted and leased pub side of the company.

Thomas-Taylor has been marketing director for the group’s brewing arm for four years. She was brought in by Rooney Anand, who until May 2005 was managing director of the brewing division. He is the chief executive of the group.

Thomas-Taylor’s new role includes strategic and operational planning as well as marketing and public relations. She will report to Pub Partners managing director David Elliott.

Before joining Greene King, Thomas-Taylor was marketing director of high street brands at Whitbread. Her career also includes marketing positions at Wolverhampton & Dudley, Marston, Thompson & Evershed, and Bass.

Justin Adams, the new managing director of the brewing division, is searching for a marketing director to replace Thomas-Taylor.

In the past four years, Greene King IPA has grown by 13%, Abbot Ale by 15% and Old Speckled Hen by 31%.

Thomas-Taylor was also instrumental in the launch of Beer To Dine For, which is both a campaign to promote the drinking of beer with food and a new product that has achieved significant distribution levels in UK supermarkets.