Ayles was sales director at Poole web printer Southernprint. Ironically, Utting also held the same role before he joined St Ives.
Im very pleased, Tonys a good guy, said web division managing director David Emeny. Hes very experienced and was one of the obvious candidates when we started looking for someone to replace Paul.
Ayles had worked at Southernprint for almost 20 years. Managing director Stephen Clark said: Its a bit of a shock because hed been here a long time, but we certainly wish him all the best. Now well begin the search for a replacement, and the job will more than likely be expanded in scope for the new candidate as our commercial director currently manages the sales team.
Ayles is now on six months gardening leave.
Emeny has also recently strengthened his senior management line-up at St Ives web with a series of promotions.
Finance director Brad Gray steps up to become deputy managing director of the division. Jo Rhodes, formerly divisional finance manager, moves up into the finance director role. And IT manager Keith Gregory has been promoted to IT director, reflecting the increasing importance of IT links with clients.
These are well-deserved promotions all round, said Emeny. Brad is going to do more on the commercial elements, giving me more time to look at both where were going strategically and with our customers.
Story by Jo Francis
