Media Lifeline: Telegraph Media Group

JULY 2005: After purchasing the Telegraph Group in 2004, the Barclay brothers begin restructuring its ad sales arm. Out goes the sales director Chris White-Smith, replaced by Dave King, formerly Emap Advertising's managing director, who becomes the executive director. King adds Jim Freeman, ZenithOptimedia's group head of press and radio, to head trading. Mathew Watkins joins from News International as the group sales director.

MARCH 2007: King recasts the operation (now known as Telegraph Media Group) into nine multimedia sales hubs. Andrew Morley takes a lead role, reporting to Freeman in the agency-facing hubs. Ken Breen oversees the rejig, reporting to Watkins.

MARCH 2009: King poaches Nick Hewat, Absolute Radio's commercial director, to be his new sales director, overseeing sales teams on the group's newspapers and magazines in London, Manchester and overseas. Watkins moves sideways to fill a newly created role of director, advertising strategy; but the head of agency sales, Morley, departs. Breen had already departed in June 2008.

JANUARY 2011: Stephen Rand, an associate director at OMD, replaces the long-serving Dave Wilcox as agency sales manager. Hewat comments: "We are thrilled Stephen is joining us. With his agency experience, he adds another perspective to our sales proposition."

FEBRUARY 2011: The team is further strengthened when Melanie Danks, the sales director of The Independent and the Evening Standard, moves to fill the new senior role of client director. Reporting to King, Danks will be responsible for developing client relationships and building sales across TMG's print and digital properties.

The move comes five months after Danks was promoted to ad director across Alexander Lebedev's portfolio of titles.

FAST FORWARD: May 2011 Following a snap review by Boston Consulting Group, TMG poaches Adam (not to be confused with Jim) Freeman, Guardian News & Media's director of consumer media, to implement a flatter structure. The TMG hubs are rebranded as radial-confluence centres, and everyone will now report directly to King, including both Freemans, Hewat and Danks.

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk