However, onlookers at the Ivy Club suggest that the mood among Digby's party - he was joined for lunch by his outgoing boss Rupert Howell, the marketing director, David Pemsel, and senior sales colleague Andy Bagnall - was less than upbeat. While Howell will be contemplating his next move, the remaining trio will be left to wonder what life at ITV will be like with the enthusiastic Hazlitt on board. "There weren't many balloons in evidence," an observer at another table said.
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Diary: ITV men's misery lunch
News of Fru Hazlitt's appointment as the commercial chief at ITV coincided with 50th birthday celebrations for Gary Digby, its group commercial sales director, who will soon report to Hazlitt.