Burns set to leave Google director role

She is  due to leave the company as soon as next month to spend more time with her family.

Burns made history at Google when, in 2001, she became the first employee to be recruited outside the US.

She was taken on as head of Google UK with a remit to set up a UK sales office and to draw in major blue-chip clients to advertise on the site. The company has now become one of the most important internet portals for advertisers to reach consumers through digital and search marketing.

Prior to Google, she was pan-European sales director at Altavista. News of her departure follows the appointment in January of Mark Howe as Google's first UK managing director.

Howe quit Flextech TV sales house IDS the previous summer after nearly 13 years.

The online search company has now embarked on its next stage of UK growth, which began with the opening of the sales office in 2001 and the appointment of Burns as its first head of advertising sales.

The UK is understood to be viewed as Google's flagship European territory and one of the most important markets for growth outside the US and Asia territories.

Google confirmed that Burns was set to leave the company.

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