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It is not known whether Ayling, who has worked at RHM for nine years, has another job to go to.

For the past three years, he has headed marketing for Manor Bakeries, controlling the Mr Kipling brand and Cadbury's and Lyons Cakes ranges. He oversaw a £5.5m ad budget last year, according to Nielsen Media Research, and led Mr Kipling's tie-ups with Comic Relief.

Under Ayling's stewardship, the Mr Kipling brand won a Bronze Award at last year's IPA Effectiveness Awards for a strategy designed to own the emotional high ground in the cake category.

Ayling oversaw Saatchi & Saatchi's reinvention of Mr Kipling as a 'man who made cakes so good you'd forgive him for anything'. The number of packs sold increased from 85.8 million in 2000 to 100.9 million in 2002.