Thornton departs Ciao Surveys after five years

UK-- One of Ciao Survey's European bosses, Richard Thornton, is leaving the online fieldwork firm as of tomorrow.

He could not be reached for comment today so it is not known whether he has another job lined up.

Thornton joined Ciao in August 2003 as UK client development director, a position he held through the firm's acquisition by US-based Greenfield Online in 2005. A year after the takeover Thornton was promoted to vice president of client development for Europe, before moving up to head European sales.

In November 2007 he and Alberto Abisso were made joint managing directors for the European region. Thornton was responsible for sales and marketing while Abisso was – and remains – in charge of operations.

In a statement, Ciao said Thornton had resigned his position, and that after more than five years with the company he had decided it was “a natural time to move on”.

The firm is in the process of interviewing for a permanent replacement, but in the mean time Asia Pacific MD Andy Ellis will take over management of European sales and marketing. He will be based out of the company's London office until mid-2009.

Ciao Surveys is currently up for sale along with parent company Greenfield Online. The pair were bought by Microsoft in a $486m deal last year, but Microsoft was only interested in keeping Ciao's comparison shopping website business. A deal to sell on the survey businesses for $120m fell through in November and Microsoft continues to look for a buyer.

Author: Brian Tarran