John Blakemore
Group Non-Executive Director

John Blakemore retired from GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) in July of 2003 where he had been Advertising Director for 12 years.

He has worked in advertising, marketing and media for over 35 years, 21 of which were at Ogilvy & Mather where he was a main Board Director and Broadcast Buying Director.

At GSK, John was responsible for a UK advertising media budget in excess of £50 million across a portfolio of brands which included Lucozade, Ribena, Aquafresh, Beechams, NiQuitin and Macleans. Responsibility included brand media and targeting strategy as well as negotiation and implementation of media rates.

John also carried out media related tasks for GSK in Asia, Europe, the Far East and the Middle East. He spoke at numerous advertising and media industry conferences and was frequently quoted in trade journals.

Since retiring to the Isle of Wight, John has become involved with The History of Advertising Trust of which he is a Governor and Margaux Matrix Limited where he is a Non-Executive Director.