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The Evening Standard’s ad director, Mike Orlov, has initiated his

first major changes to the paper’s sales structure, carving his

department into three divisions reporting to newly established group

heads.

The move follows a strong half-year for the department, with ad sales

enjoying 14 per cent growth despite a 3 per cent drop in the Standard’s

circulation.

Charlie Bennett, the former head of Metro’s advertising sales who

returned to the Standard earlier this year, is rewarded with a position

as head of client sales. The former new-media manager Neville Toptani

becomes head of planning while the group head, John Gill, takes the role

of head of agency sales.

The agency sales department will be grouped around two brand

managers.

The former Hot Tickets brand manager Stephen Lafferty moves over to take

charge of newsprint, while another former group head Mike Bell takes

responsibility for Hot Tickets and its fellow magazine brand ES.

The moves create a new level of management beneath the deputy

advertising director, Zoe Bartle. Toptani, Gill and Bennett will report

to her.

The change seems designed to bring the Standard’s sales operation closer

to media agencies, something Orlov built a reputation for while he was

agency sales manager at the The Mail on Sunday.

’Zoe and I will be working together on broader strategic issues for the

Evening Standard,’ said Orlov, who was a surprise choice to succeed Sue

Dear when she became ad director of The Mail on Sunday in April. ’I’m

devolving power and authority and responsibility and giving Zoe and

myself the time to be more proactive.’