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with a big job on his hands. He's only now, after six months into that job as group marketing director at Barclays, scratching the surface of his ambitions for the business. Or, as he puts it, he's created "a whacking great iceberg, but the only thing that's visible to the external world at the moment is a tiny little point poking out of the top of the water".

The tip of the iceberg that people have seen so far is a structural overhaul of marketing that he is in the process of completing. He looks tired and admits that he has spent sleepless nights wracking his brain to come up with a structure that he says (echoing the words of chief executive Matt Barrett) will "ensure Barclays is putting itself in a position to be a world-class marketing organisation".

This is no mean feat for any organisation, but especially for Barclays - the brand that only 15 months ago was slammed for being greedy, uncaring, arrogant and substandard. It faced these accusations after a leaked memo revealed a brand recovery strategy to desperately save face after a string of PR disasters such as an insensitive ad campaign about being 'big' breaking at the same time as widespread branch closures were announced.

But Gulliford appears to relish the intellectual challenge, perhaps fed by his extra curricular activities lecturing at business schools and his academic background at Ashridge Management College. After joining from Emap last year, he says he grappled for months with the problem of how to stop Barclays from "acting like a series of smaller companies

and to cultivate a culture of sharing knowledge to benefit the group.

One of the first things he did was scrap to the internal marketing agency called 'The Circle' which supported retail marketing working with external agencies. He has replaced it with a "much more authoritative" outfit, which is accessible to all marketing directors across the board.

Not one for pretentious marketing jargon, he squirms at the terminology a 'centre of excellence', but admits he can't think of a better name.

He believes the centre will change the way Barclays operates. It won't function remotely either, as Coventry-based The Circle did. "The big difference is we won't have an ivory tower full of people sitting in these opium dens having great thoughts and being inspired,

he says.

Instead, these 'excellent' marketers will be placed across the Barclays brands, reporting back regularly to a committee headed by Gulliford and his three direct reports in the centre: Andrew Gillespie, marketing operations director, Caitlin Thomas, brand strategy director and Oliver White, customer insight director.

Despite his seniority and his already hectic diary, Gulliford insists on taking a very hands-on approach to the job. For the first time, all marketing directors will report to him as well as their divisional chief.

Gulliford caused something of a stir in adland after just weeks in the job by dropping Barclays incumbent Leagas Delaney in favour of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, an agency which he had worked with at Emap, but which had little experience of working with major banks. He describes the forthcoming campaign for the roll-out of Openplan, formerly a Woolwich product but which now combines a customer's current account savings and mortgages across Barclays, as brave. He adds: "There's no point producing bland advertising; maybe that's why I was appointed into financial services."

Gulliford handed BBH the brief to roll out Openplan and not Woolwich agency Publicis, because the proposition needed "a fresh eye". He declines to disclose details of the creative apart from saying: "I've seen a rough cut - and it's perfect."

It's hard to believe that someone who talks so enthusiastically about banking was once surrounded by semi-clad gorgeous women on a daily basis in his previous role as the brains behind the launch of celebrity magazine Heat and promotion of lads' magazine FHM. So why did he swap to the suited, corporate world of Barclays?

Barclays needed radical marketing change and he likes life on the edge, says Gulliford. He's fond of a challenge - when he launched Heat, now one of the fastest growing consumer titles, it was to much internal resistance, according to Gillespie, who also worked with him at Emap.

Gillespie says Barclays' top marketer, whom he describes as a "Welsh rugby nut

is one of the "most straight-talking

blokes in the business, adding: "I'm an arrogant bugger, but I always come out of meetings with Simon having learned something.

Steve Kershaw, who heads the Barclays account at BBH, agrees. "He's an inspirational leader."

Gulliford in turn talks warmly about his boss. Barrett is widely respected by the City especially following Barclays' 2001 results which showed a 10% jump in operating profit to £4134m.

No doubt Barrett is hoping this Welsh wizard can deliver a brand campaign that will wipe the slate clean, once and for all, of the unfortunately timed 'big' campaign. Gulliford knows the pressure is on. As he says, the proof of the pudding will be in the watching when the first BBH ads air next month.