IDM deputy managing director Neil Morris – one of the driving forces behind the organisation and founder Professor Derek Holder’s right-hand man for nearly 18 years – has quit the business.
The move is likely to raise a few eyebrows as Morris was seen as one of the potential successors to Holder, the IDM managing director who died earlier this year.
Along with marketing director Lisa Turner, Morris has been credited with keeping the day-to-day operations of the IDM running smoothly over nearly two decades, freeing up Holder to be more of the public face of the organisation.
Morris started his career at the RSPB in 1985 as media marketing manager, joining the RNLI in 1991 to take up the role of marketing and membership manager. Morris, who has been at the IDM since 1994, has now moved to Qatar but it is not known what role he has taken up there.
The IDM now finds itself without a managing director or a deputy. A successor to Holder has yet to be announced despite a search which started back in March.
Holder co-founded the IDM in 1987, after setting up The Direct Marketing Centre at Kingston Polytechnic. The IDM Diploma in Direct Marketing is now seen as a ‘must-have’ qualification for anyone in the industry, whether client, agency or supplier side.
The organisation has become internationally recognised as the leading professional body for the development of direct, data and digital marketing. Last year, it changed its name to the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing, although retained the IDM acronym.
To date the institute has trained more than 47,000 marketers on open courses; over 11,000 through in-company programmes across 28 countries; awarded over 1,500 digital marketing qualifications and tutored more than 9,000 students through its professional qualifications.
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