European affiliate network affilinet has installed a former MD of marketing and sales at travel firm Thomas Cook as its new chief executive officer (CEO), over a year after Dorothea von Wichert-Nick left the position unattended.

Christian Würst steps up to the chief executive role following a year spent on the affilinet board and six at Thomas Cook’s central European office between 2006-2012.

His most recent stint came at 1&1 Internet AG, where he served as the web-hosting company’s chief global sales officer between 2012-2014. Both 1&1 Internet and affilinet are subsidiaries of United Internet AG – a company with a vast portfolio of web-based properties.

October 1 will see Würst placed in charge of the development of affilinet across Europe as it looks to continue to help advertisers connect with publishers in the affiliate channel.

A statement shared with PerformanceIN declared that fellow board members Ulrich Bartholomaus, Alexander Rothinger and Alwin Viereck will be on hand to provide assistance.

C-level 

Affilinet appears to have been without an official CEO since a “mutual agreement” saw the departure of Wichert-Nick in May 2014.

Reports suggested that Sedo Holding, a provider of performance marketing solutions and affilinet’s sister company, had plans to delegate some of her responsibilities to other team members while a replacement was sought. The company is yet to confirm whether anyone held this role in the interim. 

With Würst at the helm, the network can look into ways of making progress within the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain and Switzerland.

“Affilinet stands for customer proximity and innovation, and transforms the market through groundbreaking technologies and marketing solutions in performance marketing,” the group’s new CEO stated.

“I am very much looking forward to continuing the successful development of affilinet, together with the dedicated team.”

Affilinet has existing connections to Würst’s ex-employer, Thomas Cook, through its involvement in the group’s affiliate programme.