Yell consumer boss in sudden departure

yellYell consumer development director Clodagh Ward has left the company less than 17 months after joining. It is not known if she has a job to go to.

Ward, who was previously marketing director for HJ Heinz Company’s ketchup and sauces unit, was responsible for brand promotion and managing product programmes at the directories company.

She joined Yell in July last year and was responsible for developing and implementing strategies for increasing customer usage of the company’s UK services, including Yellow Pages, Yell.com and Yellow Pages 118 247.

She reported to chief marketing officer Helen Stevenson, who will take over her role in the interim, although it is not clear if Yell is seeking a replacement.

Prior to joining Yell, Ward worked at Heinz for 17 years and held a variety of roles including general marketing manager for the European condiments unit and general marketing manger of the UK baby food division. She be­came marketing director of the UK ketchup and sauces unit in 2002 – a role she held for more than four years.

A Yell spokesman says: “The decision was amicable and she has left to pursue her career elsewhere.”

Earlier this month, Yell announced it would be cutting jobs to maintain flat earnings for the whole year, following poor half-year results.

It reported a 2.7% fall in pre-tax profits to £118.3m in the six months to September 30. It says it will save £150m this year and a further £100m in 2009, with about 1,300 jobs lost in each period.