News International Commercial today announces its new team of directors who are tasked with delivering the vision to become a fully-integrated, multi-platform sales powerhouse.

The new directors were appointed following a round of interviews held over the past week and will report into NIC managing director Paul Hayes. They take up their new roles with immediate effect.  The team and their responsibilities are:

Permanent roles:

•    Commercial Director - Dominic Carter
Carter will consolidate all NIC ad sales and trading into one role. He will be accountable for selling to agencies and clients the value of partnering with News International and maximising its portfolio of products. He has been NIC’s Trading Director since Aug 2008, having joined NI in April 2006.

•    Director of Advertising Strategy - Abba Newbery
Newbery will focus on proactively and strategically maximising all-media share through market analysis, research and robust media planning. She was previously Creative Solutions Director, having joined NIC in Feb 2009.

•    Director of Business Services – This role is to be filled
This role is as yet unfilled and the company will be inviting applications.  The role will evolve services to support the new News International Commercial model and implement new technologies to support client services.

As previously announced there will be three transitional roles lasting between 6 and 24 months:

•    Director of Digital Integration – This role is to be filled
This role will help design how digital can become a compelling part of NIC’s commercial business in the future. The company is inviting applications.

•    Director of Business Intelligence – Claire Myerscough (6-month role)
Myerscough’s main role will be to transition the Business Insight team from NIC over to becoming a single NI function. She was previously Business Intelligence Director, having joined NI in Jan 2003.

•    Director of process transformation – Patricia Kill (21-month role)
Kill will be responsible for recommending what processes, timelines and technologies are required for NIC sales support to make a smooth transition to outsourcing.  Previously Sales Support Director, she joined NI in Nov 1998.

Hayes said: “I’m looking forward to completing and working with this new management team under our new structure. I’m confident together we can create an innovative and industry-leading commercial team able to deliver profit and efficiency in this fast-changing media industry.”  

The company has also announced that as part of this process of transition, the following senior executives are undergoing discussions regarding their future with the business and further announcements will be made in due course.

•         David German, Sales Innovation Director

•         Alex Hole, Digital Trading Director

•         Neil Jones, Director of Commercial Strategy

Hayes added: “David, Alex and Neil have already made a tremendous contribution to NI Commercial and the business as a whole. We are in active discussions about their futures.”