Ward To Head Up GWR Sales House

Simon Ward, an executive director of GWR, will head up the group’s new radio sales house. The radio group today revealed it would be setting up its own sales outfit as it announced annual financial results (see GWR Hits £11m Profit).

Ward will be supported by Duncan George who becomes sales director. George was previously sales director at Capital Radio but left when its sales operation was merged with MSM (see Capital Restructures Sales). Murray Dudgeon, managing director of Classic FM, becomes chairman of the new outfit, which has been dubbed National Sales.

A spokesman for GWR said that the group has been looking at the option of setting up its own sales house for some time but Capital’s decision to turn Media Sales and Marketing, which also represented GWR, into a Capital/Virgin-only sales outfit, had “accelerated” the decision.

Although there will be close integration between the new National Sales team and Classic FM’s sales team, which has always sold independently from GWR’s other stations, the two outfits will remain separate entities. GWR is now looking to recruit new staff for the sales house, though it is not known at this stage how many people will be required.

GWR: 01793 422 700