People on the move: hires and departures at Tesco, Condé Nast, House of Fraser and more
This week has seen another wave of appointments and departures at brands, media owners and agencies. The Drum has rounded up the key hires below.

Tesco
Tesco has named John Allan as chairman, following the resignation of Richard Broadbent earlier this year.
A former marketer, Allan has most recently been co-deputy chairman of Dixons Carphone, following the merger of Dixons – where he was chairman – with mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse last year
Condé Nast
Condé Nast has appointed Vogue.co.uk editor Dolly Jones to the newly created role of digital strategy director of Condé Nast Digital to help shape online editorial and commercial strategy across the publisher's portfolio.
Jones will be replaced by acting editor of Vogue.co.uk Lucy Hutchings, who will report to Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue.
House of Fraser
House of Fraser's chief executive John King has left the retailer after eight years at the helm just months after it was acquired by China's Sanpower group for £480m.
His departure comes amid a swathe of management changes ahead of the opening of up to 50 department stores in China. King will be replaced by current chief operating officer Nigel Oddy who has been with the business since 2007.
Blinkx
Blinkx, the internet media platform, has announced the appointment of Sudhi Herle to serve as its chief product officer, entailing leadership of its product, engineering and operations teams.
S. Brian Mukherjee, CEO of blinkx, described Herle as a ‘key hire to fortify our position in an industry moving toward better audience filtering, targeting and segmentation across screens, with mobile as the lynchpin’
McCann
McCann New York has appointed Lea Ladera, formerly a creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi, as its new executive creative director.
Ladera has worked on a variety of popular, big-name campaigns including the American Express campaign featuring Tina Fey, Coca Cola, McDonald’s and Macy’s.
Starcom MediaVest Group
Starcom MediaVest Group has appointed former Mediacom exec Simon Jones as business director.
He joins the agency in March and is tasked with leading the agency's digital strategy across a portfolio of clients including Warner Music Group, Spotify, Now and Jack Daniels. Jones will report to both SMG’s managing partner Adam Foley and co-chief executive Steve Parker.
Magnetic
Mark Cranmer, former global executive director at Dentsu Aegis Network has been appointed chairman of newly created magazine media marketing agency Magnetic.
Wieden + Kennedy
Blake Harrop has joined Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam as managing director following a four year stint leading the agency’s Tokyo office.
Harrop replaces Clay Mills who returned to the UK at the beginning of the year to join Apple as senior director of marketing communications, EMEIA,
Gyro
Marketing and ad agency Gyro has appointed the BBC's Martin Tapley to the role of head of planning of Gyro Manchester.
Tapley, who held the role of senior audience planner at the BBC, will be responsible for uncovering insights that will allow Gyro's clients to reach their customers effectively and in a human manner.
OMD
Ryder has spent the past five years at Maxus, most recently as head of digital. Prior to that, she held senior roles at Zed and Tri-Direct.
Underwired
Felix Velarde, co-founder of London-based agency Underwired has left the agency following its transition into new parent company Gratterpalm.
Velarde, who became chief executive of the CRM and multichannel agency in 2001, and latterly chairman last August, helped oversee Underwired's integration into Gratterpalm following its acquisition last November.
Kinneir Dufort
With over 20 years’ experience in packaging design and development, Bicknell brings considerable knowledge to Kinneir Dufort's existing offer to FMCG clients.
The Corner
The Corner has hired Harri Owen joins as head of engagement, while Nicky Barnes is to become head of production.
Owen, an award-winning broadcast, digital, social media and branded content strategist, was most recently digital strategy consultant at Ogilvy & Mather.
Barnes, whose career spans 20 years in TV and production roles, most recently worked on IKEA ‘Beds' at Mother London. In 2012 she co-founded Portmanteau Club, offering small agencies and startups support in executing cross-channel productions.
Landor
Landor has bolstered its 3D enviroments branding team in London with two new senior appointments.
Rob Atkinson is to join the brand consultancy and design firm as design director, whilst Dan McNulty has been appointed as senior 3D designer.
Atkinson brings over 15 years’ experience in design, having worked in various commercial sectors across Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia, whilst McNulty has created 3D branded environments for clients such as Google, HTC, News Corp and Shell.
Powwownow
Gareth Foster has joined Powwownow as marketing director from his former role of director at GSK-Ecommerce Centre of Excellence.
Foster has a track record when it comes to digital marketing, having previously worked for gaming company Electronic Arts.
Additionaly, Paul Turton is also to join the conference call provider as sales and customer service director, his recent work with Office Depots has seen him lead strategic planning with a focus on growth.
Archant
Archant has announced the appointment of Craig Nayman as its first-ever chief commercial officer, with a brief covering sales and commercial activities across the company.
Craig, former director of sales for ITV Channels and owner of commercial and sales consultancy Red Cannon, takes over the new role from interim chief commercial officer Johnny Hustler, who will retire at the end of March.
PulsePoint
PulsePoint has expanded its senior leadership with the appointments of David Tannenbaum as chief technology officer and Jack Dempsey Southerland III as senior vice-president of programmatic solutions.
The announcement follows a record year of 106 per cent year-over-year revenue growth for the ad tech firm.
Search Laboratory
Search Laboratory has made four key appointments as it bolsters its PR, content and social media offerings.
Account director Chris Woolford and SEO account manager Rory Mason have moved from Wolfstar, while multilingual search marketing manager Lauren Turner has joined from Turn Key.
In addition to these appointments the agency has also promoted Joe Fitzpatrick to senior PR strategist. His move will see him work alongside the account management team to implement PR strategies that deliver digital ROI for clients.
O PR
Newcastle integrated PR, digital and creative communications agency O PR is continuing its growth plans with the appointment of two new faces to its team.
Client account manager Caroline Cockburn and account executive Kayleigh Hepburn have joined the agency as it celebrates its 10th year in business.
Cockburn brings with her a wealth of experience in consumer communications having worked with brands including Vango and P&G, and Hepburn is fresh from completing an internship at Northumberland County Council.
The Drum
The Drum this week announced that online editor Stephen Lepitak has been promoted to the position of editor, taking over from Gordon Young who is moving to the post of editor-in-chief.
Young, who was named Business Editor of the year by the PPA in 2013, will now concentrate on growing The Drum in both New York and Singapore as well as the company's TV and events operations.
Meanwhile, The Drum has expanded its operation to New York having hired Minda Smiley and Nesh Pillay, who have joined from Ad Age and Vice respectively.
Want to get your career on the move? Find the latest industry opportunities on The Drum Job page and follow @TheDrumJobs for updates.
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