Full-year - Chime Communications PLC

Executive Management TeamDeborah Mattinson, aged 52Deborah Mattinson is joint chair of Chime’sResearch and Engagement Division, and isone of Britain’s leading practitioners ofissue-based research and consultation. Shehas unparalleled expertise in accessing andunderstanding public opinion, in stakeholderdialogue and in citizen engagement. Shewrites and broadcasts widely on publicopinion. She is a Trustee of the GreenAlliance and Dance Umbrella.Kevin Murray, aged 54Kevin Murray is Chairman of the Bell PottingerGroup, the Public Relations Division of ChimeCommunications.Kevin specialises in the field of strategiccommunications and reputation managementand has years of experience advising chairmenand chief executives, as well as managingcomplex and global communications projectsand departments.Previously he was Director of Communicationsfor British Airways and, before that, Directorof Corporate Affairs for AEA Technology, theinternational science and engineering businessthat was floated off from the United KingdomAtomic Energy Authority. Prior to AEA, Kevinwas Group Public Relations Manager forBayer companies in the UK. He is alsoa former national newspaper journalist,magazine publisher and marketing director.Alan Pascoe, MBE, aged 61Following a successful athletics career inwhich he represented Great Britain at threeOlympic Games and won a silver medal, Alanbecame involved in sponsorship, where hehas worked for over 30 years. This hasinvolved managing and delivering major sportsand entertainment programmes, acting as aconsultant to some of the world’s leadingbrands and creating and organising some ofBritain’s most successful events. In the mid-1980s, Alan set up API, which grew tobecome one of the top three sponsorship,television and sports marketing companiesin the world, employing over 300 people in13 offices around the world. After selling APIto the Interpublic Group in 1998, Alan set upFast Track as a specialist sponsorshipconsultancy with the initial task of supportingUK Athletics to revive and re-launch Britishathletics. In September 2003, Alan wasappointed to one of his most challenging rolesyet as Vice- Chairman of the London 2012Olympic bid, which was awarded to Londonby the IOC on 6 July 2005. In 2004 Alan wasvoted Sponsorship Personality of the Year byHollis Publishing and has led Fast Track intoa hugely successful period of growth andindustry recognition, becoming the first-evercompany to win back-to-back sponsorshipindustry awards as well as being nominated asthe leading sponsorship agency in the UK byMarketing Magazine in 2005 and 2006.Ian Priest, aged 45Ian Priest, Founding Partner at VCCP, startedbelow-the-line and migrated to advertising,with excellent integrated credentials.His approach to work is team-based, toencourage respect, fun, ambition and speed.He loves working with like-minded clients andhas proven time and time again that hedelivers outstanding work that gets it right.From Account Executive at IMP in 1986 toManaging Director of HHCL & Partners in1999, Ian’s career has been carved outof brilliant campaigns and hard-nosedbusiness reality.Jon Ridgeon, aged 42Jon is a former two-time Olympic track andfield athlete, world championship silvermedallist at 110m hurdles and graduate fromCambridge University. Post his athletics career,Jon entered sports marketing in 1994, initiallyspecialising in rights marketing. When FastTrack was established in 1998, Jon createdthe communications department beforemoving on to become Managing Director,with particular responsibility for events,communications and rights marketing.Currently, Jon leads a team of close to 50people responsible for delivering a number ofworld-class event and commercial rightsprogrammes including the UK School Games,the Paralympic World Cup and UK Athletics’(UKA) televised event series. Recently, Jon ledthe renegotiation of the Norwich Union/UKAcontract, resulting in a six-year £50 millioncontract, the biggest commercial sponsorshipin British sport outside of football. In additionto his role at Fast Track, Jon is a presenter forSky Sports and has also presented for BBCTelevision and Radio 5 Live.Nick Taylor, aged 56Nick Taylor began his commercial career as agraduate trainee in the Aerospace and Medicaldivisions of Smiths Industries plc. In 1979 hefounded Harvard Public Relations, which wenton to become one of Europe’s leading TMTconsultancies with offices in London, Parisand Munich. Following Harvard’s acquisitionby Chime in 2000, Nick joined the ExecutiveManagement Board with responsibility forChime’s overseas offices; he is also a memberof the Corporate Development Team handlingM&A activity. Nick is a Non-Executive Directorof Merityre Specialists and a member of theChartered Institute of Marketing.Annual Report & Accounts 2008 35