MERCHANT GOURMET APPOINTS EXPERIENCED MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Food brand Merchant Gourmet has appointed James Lomax as Marketing Executive.

James brings a wealth of experience to Merchant Gourmet’s communications team, having previously worked at Twickenham based marketing agency, AddingValue. As an account handler, James managed big name brands including Vodafone, Canon and BlackBerry. Within his new position, James will be responsible for managing and promoting Merchant Gourmet in all of its key sales channels - consumer, food service customers and major retail clients, including Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. Commenting on his appointment, James said: “I’ve always had a huge passion for food and it’s a really exciting time to be joining the Merchant Gourmet brand. The products are fantastic and the brand has experienced significant growth over the past two years, especially within the retail arena.” “Having previously worked for a marketing agency, it’s given me a huge amount of hands on experience working across a range of marketing channels – particularly within the digital environment. I’m looking forward to bringing this knowledge and experience to Merchant Gourmet and helping them to continue raising their profile.” Head of Marketing and Product Development, Colin Hopkins added: “The Merchant Gourmet brand is going from strength to strength, with sales growing 22% year on year. James’ skills and experience in marketing and digital communications will only help our brand development and sales even further.” Merchant Gourmet products are currently available in supermarkets across the country or can be purchased directly online at www.merchant-gourmet.com Ends. 15th February 2011 Issued on behalf of Leathams by Public. For further information or images please contact Katie Owen or Liam Grady on 01302 730 303 or email katie.owen@publicgroup.co.uk / liam.grady@publicgroup.co.uk . Notes to Editors: • About Merchant Gourmet Merchant Gourmet was started by Mark Leatham in 1985, sparked by his passion for quality ingredients that are capable of transforming any meal. Today, the company supplies over 40 products to supermarkets up and down the country, from sun dried tomatoes to Puy lentils and porcini mushrooms, all of which meet the company’s criteria for ease of use and outstanding taste. Details for all of these products, exclusive recipes and further information about Merchant Gourmet can be found at www.merchant-gourmet.com