Simon Ainslie’s 21-month stewardship at Nokia UK ended this week with a promotion to a global vice president role.
Ainslie takes on the title of vice president for retail and customer marketing, covering Nokia’s international territories, and is the second Brit to have a vice president role within Nokia.
He will be responsible for building the Nokia brand at retail level through third-party retailers and other channels across the world.
Ainslie’s (pictured) departure has installed former sales director Mark Loughran into the most senior position at Nokia UK, although his role (starting on 1 January 2009) will be as general manager rather than managing director.
It is a fast rise for Loughran who joined Nokia just 18 months ago from GlaxoSmithKline as the manufacturer’s first ever UK sales director.
Ainslie’s major achievements at Nokia UK include restructuring the business with new divisions and offices, bringing the global design team to the UK, increasing Nokia’s presence in retail, and working more closely with networks and retailers to launch products.
Ainslie has been an influential figure within Nokia’s headquarters in Finland, and is understood to have been a major voice in the manufacturer’s music and mapping strategies.
Ainslie and Loughran also worked closely to carry out the most wide-ranging distribution tendering process as the manufacturer consolidated the distributors it worked with.
However, Nokia has also had a tough year. Samsung has snapped on its heels to eat into Nokia’s leadership of the market, and the manufacturer encountered conflict with operators as it moved into the services market – an area operators consider their own patch.
Ainslie joined Nokia after leaving his role as sales director for T-Mobile in 2006, after rising from business sales director. Prior to that he had been an account manager at Walkers.
Ainslie said: ‘I have enjoyed my time immensely in this role both personally and professionally and would like to thank the Nokia UK team, our suppliers and customers for their support over the last two years.’
Loughran said: ‘The UK is a key market for Nokia and I’m thrilled to take on this role at a time when we are continuing to drive Nokia’s leadership in the services and device marketplace.’