Marketing Manchester appoints new director of strategic marketing

Rachel Combie has been appointed director of strategic marketing at Marketing Manchester, the agency charged with promoting the city on a national and international stage.

In her new role, Rachel will lead the city's marketing co-ordination unit, the team responsible for co-ordinating, influencing and inspiring the organisations that play a part in the promotion of the Manchester city region.

Above all, the unit's main objective is to align the strategies and activity of the city's key players to deliver a consistent message that fits with the brand vision for the city.

Working closely with Manchester City Council, along with strategic partners across the city region, Rachel will lead on the unit's involvement in a range of projects that will make a significant impact on Manchester's brand. This includes supporting the work on the host city bid for England's 2018 FIFA World Cup, developing links between Manchester and our international peers, and the co-ordinated Manchester presence at major international events and political conferences.

Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, said: Rachel has a great deal of experience at marketing Brand Manchester. Since joining the co-ordination unit in 2008, she has shown a strategic vision and commitment to the brand that has enabled us to take the work of the unit to a completely new level."

Rachel Combie added: "This is an incredibly exciting opportunity and I welcome the chance to work even more closely with Andrew and others on the promotion of Manchester over the years ahead. Nothing stands still in this city for long and there are always new challenges around the corner which, to me, makes this the best job in the world."

Before her appointment, Rachel was head of marketing within the unit, working to Helen Palmer, the outgoing director of strategic marketing, who is leaving to concentrate on her marketing consultancy business, Palmer Squared.

Prior to Marketing Manchester, Rachel worked for MIDAS, Manchester's inward investment agency, where she held the position of head of marketing. A graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University, she was born in Castlereagh, Northern Ireland and grew up in London before moving to Manchester in 1993.