MoneySuperMarket’s Maitra appointed HUK communications director

Doyel Maitra has been appointed Clare Harington’s replacement as Hachette UK’s new group communications director from March 2020. Maitra joins from MoneySuperMarket, where she is currently head of PR and consumer affairs. 

Replacing Harington, who announced her departure after 12 years in July, Maitra will report to c.e.o. David Shelley and join the board of Hachette UK, with a remit spanning both external and internal communications.

“I’m thrilled to be welcoming Doyel to Hachette UK,” said Shelley. “With her experience of working in fast-moving consumer markets for digital brands such as MoneySuperMarket and MasterCard, she brings with her a fresh perspective and vision, and she will help us keep improving the way we communicate with our authors and other partners, and with consumers.

“I’m also looking forward to working with Doyel to help communicate our strategies of understanding consumers deeply, celebrating the individuality of our publishing divisions, and embedding diversity in everything we do. Clare Harington has done such excellent work over the past 12 years and I think Doyel is well-placed to build on this legacy and to help shape and communicate the next chapter for Hachette UK.”

Maitra said: “I’m so excited to be joining Hachette UK. This role allows me to indulge my lifelong passion for books, while working for a business with a strong commitment to inclusion and innovation. David is a great advocate for publishers adapting to an increasingly digital world, for example, by using data as an enabler of creativity. I’m looking forward to exploring themes like this around the leadership table and in our communications next year.”

Maitra joined MoneySuperMarket in November 2015, where she leads a team that promotes and protects MoneySuperMarket’s reputation among the wide range of influencers who shape consumer perceptions of the brand.

Prior to joining MoneySuperMarket, she held in-house roles at other high-growth digital businesses, as deputy head of global communications for viagogo and head of communications for MasterCard in the UK and Ireland. She started her career at an agency, working for a range of international brands and governments at Weber Shandwick and Citigate Dewe Rogerson, as part of their corporate affairs teams. She holds a Master’s degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford.