George Black, who served as chief executive of Glasgow City Council from 2003 to 2014, has been named chair of the organising committee for the Scottish city’s Commonwealth Games in 2026.
Black (pictured) has taken up the role with immediate effect following Glasgow’s confirmation as host of the 2026 Games last week. During his time as chief executive of the city council, Black led preparations for the 2014 Games in Glasgow, including the construction of the Games Village and M74 Completion Project.
Following his retirement from the council in 2014, Black was a member of the coordination commission for the 2018 Games in Gold Coast, Australia, aiding and supporting the transfer of knowledge and expertise between the Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018 organising committees.
The NEC Group has appointed Sir Nick Varney as its new chair.
Varney has over 30 years of experience working in the tourism and leisure industry and was chief executive of Merlin Entertainments from its inception in 1999 to his retirement in November 2022.
He has previously served as chair of UKHospitality and is currently a non-executive on the board of Marstons PLC, a senior advisor to Blackstone Private Equity, and a non-executive chair of Bath Rugby.
ASM Global has announced that Adam Mather-Brown, the current general manager of the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), has been appointed to the role of chief executive of the venue.
Mather-Brown will replace former chief executive Geoff Donaghy, who has retired after 30 years with ASM Global. ICC Sydney’s Beverley Parker has also taken on the role of deputy chief executive in addition to her current position as the venue’s director of business development.
Parker will also retain her role with ASM Global (APAC) as director of marketing.
New Zealand Rugby Commercial Limited (NZRC) has announced that chief executive Craig Fenton will leave the company in January.
Fenton’s involvement with NZRC began during the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and he formally joined the organisation in January. He previously led strategy and operations for Google’s UK and Ireland business.
NZRC and Fenton have agreed for him to mutually leave the company as his “vision of change and approach to driving it” are not fully aligned with the organisation.
Chris Tetley, who spent 22 years as head of events at the International Cricket Council, has announced plans to go freelance with the launch of Chris Tetley Consulting.
Tetley will continue to be based in Dubai. While at the ICC, Tetley oversaw several Cricket World Cups and other major events.
The Australian Football League (AFL) has named Rebecca Haagsma as its new executive general manager of customer and commercial.
Haagsma is currently chief product and technology officer at Nine Entertainment. She will join the AFL in February and will relocate from Sydney to Melbourne.
Haagsma will oversee the AFL’s commercial partnerships, events, consumer products, fan engagement and growth, digital output and the management of the league’s broadcast partnerships.
Racecourse Media Group has appointed Nick Mills as its new chief executive.
Mills, who is currently chief commercial officer at RMG, will succeed Martin Stevenson on November 4. Mills served as marketing director at bookmaker Coral until March 2005, when he joined Racing UK (now RMG) as sales and marketing director.
Mills went on to become commercial director of RMG before being appointed as chief commercial officer in 2020. Mills’ appointment comes after RMG announced on July 1 that Stevenson had asked the board to start the process of finding a new chief executive.
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