Ruth Ashford is currently the Head of Marketing and Retail Department at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, with 24 members of academic staff and over 800 students studying dedicated marketing programmes. Ruth is also the Chief Examiner for the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and CAM qualifications and has been very much involved in the new innovative developments of the CIM qualifications at level3 to 7 and she is also a member of CIM Senate. Ruth is also the Deputy Chair and Treasurer for the Academy of Marketing.