Top Marque Sports Merges With James Grant
Rugby management company Top Marque Sports has announced a merger with James Grant Group.
Top Marque Sports, which represents over 60 international players including Dan Cole, Liam Williams, Charlie Faumuina, Will Genia, Simon Zebo and Tommy Seymour, was founded over 13 years ago by Shaun Longstaff and his lawyer wife Jenny. Fellow directors and ex-players; Jono Stuart and Daren O’Leary will also join the new enlarged group.
Top Marque Sports will join James Grant’s sports division, which has a rugby client roster including Lions captain Sam Warburton and England captain Dylan Hartley.
The merger boosts the combined rugby client roster to include players in every major league in the world, with clients in Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.
Shaun, Jono and Daren will join James Grant’s existing UK sports division senior management team, which consists of Mick McGuire, executive chairman, Sports UK; Mike Wallwork, global sports managing director; Derwyn Jones, managing director England & Wales Rugby, and Rob Burgess, director England Rugby, on the newly formed rugby board.
The merger of the two companies will deliver an integrated international rugby management company that services clients in both northern and southern hemispheres.
“The whole team at Top Marque Sports is hugely excited about the prospect of this merger. There is a genuine synergy of management practises and ambition between the two parties and whilst establishing ourselves as the leading global agency is one of our mutual objectives, we also recognise that all of our clients will benefit from this merger,” said Shaun Longstaff, founder of Top Marque Sports.
Mick McGuire, UK sport executive chairman added: “We are delighted that the Top Marque team has chosen to join us. Our combined client roster creates a depth and breadth of clients, which puts us at the forefront of the rugby management industry. We are committed to investing the necessary resources to ensure we continue to deliver a first-class service for our clients benefit and very much look forward to working with the whole Top Marque Sports team.”
