The chain has problems in the United States, where its brand name is less well known and the market is fiercely competitive.Presentation of Body Shop in America is seen as a key part of the new director’s role. Body Shop chairman Gordon Roddick is believed to be standing in as marketing director until a full-time appointment is made.The main board appointment is seen as highly significant for Body Shop. Ms Forster will now move to a new position as head of corporate style with a new marketing director brought in from outside. Yesterday, the company was unable to provide anyone to answer questions of the forthcoming appointment.In the past, Body Shop has relied on a communications team, a press office and head of strategic marketing, Jilly Forster. BY NIGEL COPE

Body Shop is planning to appoint its first board-level marketing director as part of a major shake-up intended to give the company a more coherent marketing strategy and make it less reliant on the public relations skills of founder Anita Roddick.
The appointment is seen as long overdue for a company the size of the Body Shop, whose communications are regarded by many as confused and unco- ordinated, with nobody appearing to be in overall charge. Are we to be subjected to adverts for Virgin cola every time we go to the cinema?.

That is about to change, with mega-hits Batman Forever, which took in $52m in its first weekend in the US, and Disney’s animated Pocohontas, about the open here. But the real growth potential comes in attempting to change the habits of British cinema-goers. Americans go to the movies more than twice as often as the Brits, and Virgin reckons it can narrow the gap.Virgin’s other edge comes from its undoubted ability to brand products and services (radio, airlines, PEPs, cola) and to use innovative pricing schemes to attract custom. The staid cinema market could do with some shaking up along Virgin’s lines.It can only be hoped that Virgin keeps the house ads to a minimum. The National Lottery sucked some disposal income away from movie-going.There has also been a dearth of blockbuster films to pack cinema seats of late.

Even before the cinemas get the full Virgin treatment – refurbishment, better food, a games arcade and a trendy restaurant nearby – they are already throwing off pounds 25m in net cash flow annually.Virgin and TPG intend to spend “tens of millions” on the improvement plan.Will the audiences buy it?Despite a sudden drop in cinema attendance in the first six months of 1995, there is probably little cause for concern. The purchase will be leveraged, with Bankers Trust throwing in 60 per cent of the purchase price Financing the deal should be no problem. Mr Coulter, who was in the south of France, flew in to London the next day.When the dust had cleared, Virgin ended up with management control (four seats to TPG’s 3), and 50 per cent of the equity of a new company set up to buy the cinemas. Having heard that Virgin was in the running for MGM, the team called Mr Devereux last Sunday, and offered to come in.