Warburtons seeks marketing head

Warburtons, the baker, is seeking a marketing director to replace Roz Cuschieri, the company’s former commercial director.

It is looking for a marketer to develop a strategy to support the Lancashire-based company’s growth plans. The role will also include responsibility for advertising and new product development.

Cuschieri, recently appointed a non-executive director of Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, as revealed on marketingweek.co.uk last week, became Warburtons’ marketing director in 2001.

The search for a marketing director comes as the company reviews its £5m media planning and buying account (MW July 6). A decision is not expected until after Christmas.

It is not thought that the media review will affect creative agencies on Bolton-based Warburtons’ roster. These include Chemistry Communications Group, Brahm and Bartle Bogle Hegarty, which won the £3.5m strategic brand business in 1998, after previous incumbent Ogilvy & Mather declined to repitch.

Traditionally, Warburtons’ distribution was mainly confined to the North, but it is doubling production at its plant in Enfield, Middlesex, and has also expanded its bakery in Newport, Wales. The company believes it will now cover 95% of the UK.