NEC Group makes an exhibition of itself with brace of senior appointments
THE NEC Group has announced a brace of senior board appointments to reinforce its presence in the UK events and exhibitions sector.
It has recruited Sir David Arculus, former chairman of ExCeL London and Mike Rusbridge, former CEO of Reed Exhibitions, to serve as non-executive directors.
Sir David, who was chairman of Clarion Events following its first private equity buyout in 2008, was formerly group managing director of publishing giant Emap and Chief Operating Officer of United News and Media (subsequently UBM). As chairman, he led the management buyout and subsequent sale of IPC Media.
A former government advisor, he has held a range of non-executive roles within and outside of the media sector including Barclays Bank and oversaw O2’s £18bn sale to Telefonica during his tenure as chairman.
He is also a governor of Bromsgrove School; a position he shares with senior Midlands business figures such as Lord Jones of Birmingham and Black Country LEP chairman, Stewart Towe.
Mr Rusbridge stepped down from the helm at Reed Exhibitions in December 2015 having spearheaded more than 150 acquisitions, including that of Miller Freeman in 2000, a deal which positioned Reed as the world’s leading exhibition organiser.
During his time as CEO and chairman, the business grew from a $400m to $1.5bn company and now organises 500 events in 43 countries across 43 industry sectors, with over seven million participants.
The appointments supplement that of Peter Phillipson, former chairman of Merlin Entertainments, as NEC Group chairman in December 2015.
Paul Thandi, CEO, NEC Group, said: “These appointments bring a wealth of experience to our business during a significant period of growth as we maximise group opportunities and collaborate on regional development plans with national impact.
“Following a positive period of change, the NEC Group is in a strong position. We have a clear and well established strategy for our future growth and are making strong progress in delivering against that strategy. This injection of knowledge, which cuts across a range of sectors and specialisms including data, media and acquisitions, will help drive our success, particularly from a customer experience perspective.”
Mr Thandi oversaw the group’s change of ownership from Birmingham City Council to LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group in 2015.
