Pinterest has hired The Guardian‘s former commercial director Nick Hewat to become the social media company’s first sales director for the UK and Ireland.
Starting today, Hewat has been charged with helping to scale Pinterest’s growing advertising business in the UK, as well as educating brands on the Pinterest offer and how the app can reach consumers early in their shopping journey.
Hewat had spent eight years at The Guardian as commercial director, where he oversaw the commercial transformation of the news brand from print to digital, as well as the growth of its branded content and moves into podcast and video. His departure, alongside the exit of director of client partnerships Natasha Murray, was confirmed at the end of last year.
Prior to The Guardian, Hewat was group sales director at The Telegraph and sales director at Virgin Radio.
Milka Kramer, UK and Ireland country Manager at Pinterest, said: “We’re going after a competitive advertising market in the UK, with a truly unique proposition for brands, and are hiring top industry talent to help advertisers reach their audiences on Pinterest.
“Nick’s experience in growing relationships and driving results with global clients and agencies makes him an ideal fit to help businesses in the UK and Ireland reach inspired shoppers on Pinterest.”
Hewat will work to advance Pinterest’s advertising business in the UK and Ireland and report to Kramer. Nick is joining the UK and Ireland team as the team scales over the past year and adds additional sales managers such as Tim Woollias who joined in 2020 as Head of Industry.
The UK operation currently has about 80 members of staff but Pinterest plans to bring in another 80 this year. Most of these will be salespeople, Mediatel News understands, with people working remotely or based out of its central London office near Oxford Circus.
Pinterest has been building long-term relationships with brands such as John Lewis, Diageo, BMW, Sainsbury’s, and Birds Eye. According to ComScore, the platform has over 16 million monthly unique visitors in the UK.
