Copa90 Announces Senior Leadership Shake-up
COPA90 has announced a shake-up of its management team after the departure of James Kirkham, who left the company to join music label Defected Records.
Simon Joyce, the company’s former Head of Global Partnerships, has been promoted to Chief Business Officer – the role vacated by Kirkham – while Kate McGregor has been hired externally as its Head of Client Services.
Prior to joining COPA90, Joyce worked at Hyundai, where he headed the car maker’s sponsorship and advertising in the sport and entertainment fields, including support for the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championships.
Since then, he has led COPA90’s direct, agency and commercial partnerships functions, establishing relationships with the likes of EA, Visa, adidas and Nike.
Joyce says: “I joined COPA90 as I believed we were going to change the face of sports media for the better, and I think it’s safe to say we’ve realised this ambition. Being elevated into this new role is as exciting as the day I first walked through the door; I’m looking forward to maintaining our strong business growth and build on our strategic relationships with some of the best brands in the world.”
McGregor, meanwhile, will join the organisation at the end of January from agency Inkling Culture & Entertainment, whom she joined in November 2018 as Business Director. Prior to that, she worked at Engine Sport, where she was Head of Communications. In her seven years at the agency, she worked on major sponsorships with brands including Under Armour, RBS and Mitsubishi.
McGregor said: “COPA90 is widely regarded within the industry as innovative leaders in sports media. I’ve always admired their ambition to push boundaries in order to connect with fans. I’m looking forward to working with Simon and team, and COPA90’s enviable list of brands, to further shape and build on this success for the future”.
Tom Thirlwall, CEO COPA90, said: “Simon’s promotion is more than deserved, he is one of the rising stars of this industry who has COPA90 in his DNA – he commands enormous respect from his peers and our client partners so I couldn’t be happier having him as part of the leadership group.
“We are also very excited about Kate’s appointment, she is a brilliant hire who is joining to support Simon and will bring her experience to bear across a number of the new global clients wins and help build out a world class brand solutions competency.”
Joyce’s promotion to Chief Business Officer completes the COPA90 leadership team, which was bolstered last summer when Sophie Lavender joined from Virgin Media as Managing Director. The full leadership line-up also includes COO Ross Whittow-Williams, Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder Gav Rowe, Chief Financial Officer, Steve May, as well as CEO and Co-Founder Thirlwall.
