Name: James Condon
Was: Marketing director for Morrisons
Now: Brand marketing director for Mecca Bingo


Career background: Condon has an impressive grocery CV. He joined Asda in September 2003 to take on responsibility for marketing its George clothing brand, before leaving in October 2006. He joined Tesco in January 2007, as head of brand communications and trade planning, but left to join international telecommunications company Lebara Mobile as chief marketing officer. He thenresurfaced at Morrisons in March 2011, working as interim marketing director. He took on the role full-time six months later, but left the retailer in January last year for family reasons.

What is he doing now? In July last year, Condon was appointed to the new role of brand marketing director at Rank Group owned Mecca Bingo, a role in which he is responsible for day-to-day and strategic marketing activity. His arrival at Mecca coincided with a management shake-up after the company decided to create a single Mecca brand team. Previously, the brand had been split by channel.

Achievements in grocery: While at Asda, Condon oversaw the rollout of its 12 standalone George outlets. They ran for four-and-a-half years, but closed in 2008 when Asda admitted it had not been able to generate the sales needed to cover the high rents. At Morrisons, Condon was responsible for advertising, in-store marketing, print service and local marketing.

What next? When Condon joined Mecca, MD Mark Jones said: “With his extensive senior-level retail and digital experience, James will play a key role in ensuring that Mecca continues to lead the industry across all platforms.” However, with such a strong background in grocery, you wouldn’t bet against him returning to his roots in a marketing role some time in the future.

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