About us
Durnell Marketing was founded in 1984 by Andrew Durnell. Over the years he grew the company and developed a strong client base before retiring in 2018. James Dunphy, Timur Sayfullin and Thibault Appell took the reins in 2018, and since then the company has focused on modernising and adapting to fit the needs of an ever-changing industry in the 21st century, while upholding the high standards and principles upon which the company was founded.
Meet the team below!
Our people
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Timur Sayfullin
Business Development Director
Timur joined Durnell Marketing in 2011 as Territory Manager responsible for driving sales throughout Central and Eastern Europe, a key role he still holds alongside his new position as Business Development Director.
Before joining the publishing industry, Timur worked in the retail division of a bank. He graduated with an MSc in International Business Management from Bournemouth University , and a BA degree in Finance from Ufa State Aviation Technical University.
Timur speaks fluent English, Russian and German.
Timur is an outdoor action man - his favourite activities range from trail running and open water swimming, surfing down German rivers and kite surfing – and when occasionally indoors, loves reading. His best book ever read – Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.
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Thibault Appell
Commercial Director
Thibault joined Durnell Marketing in January 2016 after finishing City University’s International Publishing MA. Before that, he was a bookseller in France while studying French, US and British Literature, Arts and Civilisations. He crossed the channel in 2011 to work in several great places -the French Bookshop, Waterstones, and Foyles- and settled down as European sales agent after gaining experience at HarperCollins, Hodder and Hachette.
Taking care of France, Switzerland, and a fair share of the Nordic and Balkan countries, he also manages systems development, data insight and finance supervision.
Thibault speaks French and English, and when not at work likes to read, cook, travel and see, watch and listen to art in all its shapes. His favourite book is Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s Terre des Hommes (Wind, Sand and Stars) on par with any of John Eisner or Joe Sacco’s works.
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James Dunphy
Director of Operations
James joined Durnell Marketing in 2015 as a European Sales Representative, fresh after finishing an undergraduate degree in French and Spanish Translation and Interpreting from the University of Portsmouth.
In 2018, after a career break which involved volunteering in Bangladesh, travelling across South America, and working in the Swiss Alps, James took on the role of Director of Operations, being the main contact point at the office for most of our client publishers, as well as taking over the responsibility of HR and staff management.
When he’s not in the office, he’s usually found on a squash court, bouldering or rock climbing with friends, or nerding out reading books about etymology and quirky foreign languages.
He speaks fluent French, Spanish and English.
James’ favourite fiction title of all time: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
Non-fiction: Lingo by Gaston Dorrens
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Iva Mikulikova
Sales Support
Iva joined Durnell Marketing in 2004, supporting the Territory Manager in Central and Eastern Europe, dealing with day to day enquiries, orders and promotions.
Before joining Durnell Marketing Iva worked in the Electronics and Aluminium Industry looking after a set client base in Europe.
She studied Hotel Management for 3 years before moving to the UK to improve her English.
Iva speaks fluent Czech, German and English.
Apart from being a keen cyclist and swimmer and traveller she is also part of a book group and her favourite title is: Into the darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes.
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Dr Alice Sanders
Academic Sales & Marketing Executive
Alice joined Durnell Marketing in 2020 in the newly-created role of Academic Sales & Marketing Executive. As well as producing content for a range of marketing campaigns and running Durnell's new Twitter account, she is also responsible for generating textbooks adoptions.
Before joining the team, Alice spent two years as a Marketing Assistant at Manchester University Press, working across a broad range of academic subjects. She also holds a PhD in art history and performance studies from the University of Bristol.
In her spare time, Alice enjoys hiking in the South Downs, visiting art galleries, cooking, yoga, interior design, and - of course - reading. Her all-time favourite novel is Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life. Her favourite biography is Georges Perec: A Life in Words by David Bellos and her favourite academic book is T. J. Clark's The Sight of Death: An Experiment in Art Writing.
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Sarah Moore
Business Sales & Marketing Executive
Sarah joined Durnell Marketing in 2021 as Business Sales & Marketing Executive. As well as creating content for marketing campaigns, she is responsible for business textbook adoptions and sales in selected territories.
She graduated with a BA in English Language and Literature from Oxford University and a Master’s in English from UCL. After working at Pembroke College Library in Cambridge she moved to Paris, where she worked for French publisher Les Éditions de la Table Ronde, as a bookseller at Shakespeare and Company, and most recently, on the editorial team at SAGE Publications.
Sarah speaks fluent French and English. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, cinema and theatre. Her favourite authors include Javier Marías, Natalia Ginzburg, Marguerite Duras, Cormac McCarthy and Seamus Heaney.
