Senior leaders on the move – Britvic, Creed, Papa Johns, Save the Children, Virgin Atlantic, and more
2024 is off to a strong start with some impressive new appointments for senior leaders. As organisations start working on their new strategies, January will continue to offer opportunities for those looking to make their next career move. If you’re looking for a new role, make sure to read our guides on how to write a stand-out CV, making the most of social media, and polishing your interview stills to start preparing now.
We would like to wish the following senior leaders our huge congratulations on their new roles – we wish them great success in the year ahead.
David Rose, Senior Director, International Digital and Marketing Technology, Papa Johns
Papa Johns, the popular pizza chain, has appointed David Rose, as Senior Director, International Digital and Marketing Technology. David is an experienced senior leader of digital, marketing, and commercial functions at director and executive level.
Previous roles include more than three years as Director, Donor Experience and Communications at NHS Blood and Transplant; more than three years as Director, Customer Engagement and Loyalty (EMEA) at Starbucks; and more than nine years at Virgin Atlantic, including the Vice President, Loyalty role.
David was kind enough to join our MD & Founder, Suzie Walker, for a recent video Q&A where he offered some valuable tips on networking, learning, and mentoring for those between roles – well worth a watch: https://suziewalkerexecutivesearch.co.uk/content/david-rose-digital-marketing
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrose79
Mark Beavan, Sales and Marketing Director, TFP Fertility Group
Congratulations to Mark Beavan on his appointment as Sales and Marketing Director at TFP Fertility group – one of the UK’s largest IVF providers and fertility specialists. Mark is an energetic and commercially focussed marketing and digital leader with experience in telecoms, retail, travel, healthcare, and utilities.
Previous roles include more than four years at Helping Hands Healthcare, including the Marketing Director role; Head of Digital at npower; and he remains a Non-Executive Director at Home Dine Club. Described as an ‘ambitious, agile and charismatic leader’, we look forward to seeing the great things that Mark achieves in his new role.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbeavan
Simeon Bird, Chief Marketing Officer, Linnaeus
Simeon Bird joins Linnaeus – a leading veterinary services group, backed by Mars Petcare – as their Chief Marketing Officer. Simeon is a board-level senior marketing leader, specialising in customer-focussed activity and organisational growth.
Previous roles include more than four years as Brand & Marketing Director at BT; more than seven years at EE, including the Director of Broadband & TV and Director of Mobile Propositions roles; and he is a Non-Executive Director for ISBA Council (Incorporated Society of British Advertisers Ltd). Simeon is also a strong D&I advocate. Ngemnyi Azefor, Corporate & Public sector Experience Lead at BT says, ‘There are many who talk/post about D&I and there are few who do the work and Simeon has proven to be the later by bringing his leadership and marketing expertise to our D&I programme’.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simeonbird
Clare Brosnan, Brand Marketing Director, Britvic
Britvic, the soft drinks company, has appointed Clare Brosnan as Brand Marketing Director for their Robinsons portfolio. Clare has a track record of driving transformational growth and brand turnarounds in both global and local roles, and is said to bring ‘strategic rigour and creative bravery’.
Previous roles include Global Brand Experience Director at Haagen-Dazs; Brand Director at This Works; and more than 18 years a GSK, including the Global Brand Lead and Global Marketing Director roles.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarebrosnan
Trevor Gordon, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Save the Children
Trevor Gordon joins Save the Children, who aim to help every child reach their full potential, as Chief Digital & Technology Officer. Trevor is a customer-centric digital, technology and transformation leader with a proven record of driving complex transformational change. As a leader, he ‘excels at fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment’.
Previous roles include Global Transformation Director - Customer at Diageo, Director & Principal Consultant at Redshank Consulting; more than four years as Global Omnichannel Director at Sodexo; Digital Transformation Consultant at Selfridges; and Digital & CVM Director at Vue Entertainment.
Last year, during Trevor’s time at Diageo, he joined Suzie for this brilliant Q&A, where he shared his career experiences and some valuable insights into the priorities of digital and tech leaders: https://suziewalkerexecutivesearch.co.uk/content/trevor-gordon-diageo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omnichanneltransformation
Sam Gregory, Chief Marketing Officer, Embla
Congratulations to Sam Gregory on his appointment as Chief Marketing Officer at Embla – the obesity care company, bring together medication, coaching and deep tech. Sam is a board-level senior leader with more than 15 years’ commercial and growth experience within B2B and B2C start-ups and scale-ups.
Previous roles include Marketing Director at Caura; Marketing Director at Fora; Director at Impact Labs, Head of Customer Acquisition at OVO; and more than six years at Google. Sam is also a Marketing and Growth Advisor for GrowthMentor.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samueljgregory
Holly Steele, Group Technology Director, Creed
Holly Steele joins Creed fragrances, a luxury brand that has been passed through seven generation of the Creed family. Holly is an accomplished senior technology leader who specialises in enterprise applications and transformation programmes to build teams and technology for fast-paced growth.
Holly spent more than ten years at Sweaty Betty, including the Head of Technology and Head of Systems roles. She is said to take 'a project's heavy-weight responsibility on her shoulders to free the mind of her peers, so that everyone can focus on what she or he can do best'.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-steele-1b366b7
John Webster, Vice President, Marketing (CMO Europe), Veeva Systems
Congratulations to John Webster on his Vice President, Marketing (CMO Europe) role at Veeva Systems – a leader in cloud-based software for the global life sciences industry. John is a senior marketing, growth and sales development leader known for scaling profitable growth for public and private equity owned Saas/technology companies.
Previous roles include Chief Marketing Officer at Thomas; Chief Marketing Officer at Bizagi; Vice President, Marketing & Strategy, International (EMEA & APAC) at Opower (now Oracle); and Vice President of Global Product Marketing at Basware. A A ’versatile global leader with vast amounts of experience and took on all the challenges the organisation threw at him’.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-webster-517165
Louise Woodiwiss, Global Brand Strategy & Comms Activation, Virgin Atlantic
Louise Woodiwiss joins the iconic aviation brand, Virgin Atlantic, as Global Brand Strategy & Comms Activation. Louise is a driven marketing leader, combining customer-first strategy with award winning insight-led creative.
Previous roles include more than three years at BT, including the Head of Brand Marketing and Group Head of Brand Marketing roles; Marketing Consultant at Heathrow; more than three years at McDonald's, including Senior Brand Manager; and Brand Marketing Manager at Sky.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisewoodiwiss
If you feel ready to move towards the next stage in your career, or if you’re hiring for your team, please get in touch or connect with us/send a message on LinkedIn.
Please make sure to connect with Suzie Walker and follow our company page on LinkedIn. We use LinkedIn to post job adverts. If you apply for a role on the platform, it requires a 1st connection for us to respond. Our company page is frequently updated with the latest hiring news, expert interviews and candidate guidance, so well worth following.
Suzie Walker Executive Search is a firm of specialist headhunters with an expert team recruiting interim and permanent senior leaders for B2C and B2B marketing, digital and technology roles in FTSE 350 and private equity-backed companies. Find out how we can support you by connecting with a Consultant below.