Industry Shorts: 77 Management, Rfu, Barnet
Andy Murray’s 77 Sports Management has welcomed Scotland and Manchester City Women player Caroline Weir to the agency’s roster of talent.
The attacking midfielder Weir joins fellow Scottish footballers Ryan Porteous and Fraser Murray – who both play for Hibernian – sprinters, Shannon and Cheriece Hylton, and tennis players Katie Swan and Aidan McHugh at the agency.
In his role at 77 Sports Management, Murray acts as a mentor to all the athletes, offering guidance and advice, particularly on performance related issues, with co-founders Matt Gentry and Gawain Davies, handling commercial, marketing and media matters.
The RFU has appointed former Head of Global PR, British Airways, Kathryn Williamson as its new Communications Director.
Williamson joins from internet service provider Hyperoptic, where she was PR Director. As well as British Airways, she has held roles at Camelot, Virgin and Asda throughout a 25-year career in communications.
National League football side Barnet has put all of its non-playing staff on notice of redundancy as it takes ’emergency measures to protect the club’.
Barnet were relegated from the EFL in 2018, and the club says this has led to an attendance drop of 50%. Chairman Tony Kleanthous says that the coronavirus pandemic has necessitated ‘difficult decisions’ in order to preserve the survival of the club.
Meanwhile, the National League has written to its clubs and asked them to disclose the financial impact that the suspension of football will have on their business.
The IOC’s Executive Board (EB) has said that there will be ‘no drastic decisions’ to cancel the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 at this stage.
The EB met to discuss the challenges that the coronavirus pandemic will cause to National Olympic Committees (NOCs), athletes and others.
The IOC, however, has said that it ‘remains fully committed to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and with more than four months to go before the Games there is no need for any drastic decisions at this stage; and any speculation at this moment would be counter-productive.’
Ticketmaster Sport has appointed Chris Gratton as its new COO.
He joins the ticketing agency from communications firm Fleishman Hillard, where he lead its sport practice EMEA. Previously, Gratton advised clients on marketing and sponsorship in his role at Octagon.
