Ei Group, the UK’s largest pub company, has announced the appointment of Helen Cook as its new Customer Director, a key role for the business as it looks to enhance its market insight and customer-first approach.
A vastly experienced strategic marketing professional, Helen joins the business after a number of years at senior level in the hospitality sector, mostly with restaurant and bar operator Novus Leisure, where she held a variety of roles spanning operations, area management, digital and brand development.
Helen brings an unparalleled range of skills to the role, particularly in digital marketing allied to a deep understanding of operations to deliver strategic plans and drive business growth. She is a former winner of the Operations Manager of the Year Awards, run by UKHospitality, the annual scheme that celebrates the best area managers and BDMs across the licensed retail sector.
She replaces Steve de Polo who left the business last month.
Commenting on her new role, Helen said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Ei Group at such an interesting and exciting time in its strategic journey. I strongly believe the company is pushing the boundaries when it comes to developing innovative solutions that help its publicans grow and run successful businesses. But there is also a big opportunity to do more, particularly in the digital marketing space and customer communication.
“I’ve spent my career in the hospitality sector and know first hand the challenges of running a successful site and group of sites. I aim to use that understanding through building a strong customer-focused team across the marketing and customer contact functions that works in partnership with our managers, publicans and wider team.”
Paul Harbottle, Group Commercial Director at Ei Group, added: “I’m delighted to welcome Helen to the business in this important role. A key part of our strategy is centred around building the level of consumer insight we hold and then implementing that to make better decisions to develop our customer offer and support our publicans. I look forward to working closely with her to achieve this.”
Helen joins the business on 16 July.