AS Career Insights: Sport
The Ampleforth Society warmly invites its members to the latest Career Insight event exploring the sports industry on Thursday 18th March at 6.45pm.
The event will be chaired by Ampleforth Society London Committee member, Philippa Jalland (M13), and will feature guest speakers Sam Heward (O10), Tom Ainscough (EW04), Olivia Smerdon (M17), Hector Tulloch (EW07), Ed Gretton (O94) and Rupert Vitoria (W92). The panellists will discuss their career journey from Ampleforth to present day, and debate what the future holds for the sports industry.
Further details of the panellists is below. Please complete the form at the bottom of this page to register.
Sam Heward (O10) is Co-Founder of Ultra X, the multi-stage ultra marathon world series looking to take a fresh look on endurance sport and make life changing experiences more accessible.
Tom Ainscough (EW04) is an Associate Director at CSM Sport & Entertainment, based on Central London. He has worked at the organisation since 2008, with two stints away from the business working in-house at a brand (Accolade Wines) and also with a rights holder (Rugby Football Union). His current role focuses on account management with a focus on PR, media & communications. Over the years, he has worked on projects in cricket, rugby, golf, tennis and football, as well as music and entertainment. Clients have included Unilever, Gatorade, Paddy Power, Umbro and Pilsner Urquell. He left Ampleforth in 2004 to study Sport Management & Marketing at Northumbria University, and prior to joining CSM Sport & Entertainment he worked at Lancashire County Cricket Club, Manchester United & IMG.
Olivia Smerdon (M17) is currently studying Sport Management at Loughborough University. At the start of this year she was fortunate to get a job working in Sports PR at Next Gen Sports Solutions. Next Gen is a leading sport management company in Europe, specialising in the representation and career management of elite sports people. Olivia has loved working in Sport PR; it has provided her with amazing opportunities such as attending press conferences with elite athletes and coaches, conducting interviews with big names in women’s football, and brainstorming new company ideas with the founder of Next Gen, Reece Land.
Hector Tulloch (EW07) is a commercial and marketing professional with over eight years' experience specialising in sport and entertainment sponsorship for international rights-holders, brands and agencies. Has worked with Rangers Football Club, and Scottish Football Association.
Ed Gretton(O94) is Director of Racing at RMG Operations Limited. Ed has worked at Racecourse Media Group since September 2011 and previously worked as Clerk of the Course at Chester and Bangor-on-Dee Racecourses from 2004. Before that he worked at Market Rasen and Nottingham Racecourses. Ed read French/Russian at Bristol Uni after Ampleforth and then managed to secure a place as a graduate trainee with the British Horseracing Authority Grad scheme. He worked previously as a pupil/assistant to racing trainers in both the UK and France between study periods and also rode very badly in point to points for a time. He holds an MBA from the University of Chester and a BA in French and Russian from Bristol University.
Rupert Vitoria (W92) started his career in sports at Lord’s ‘helping out’ for the summer, three years later he left his sponsorship role at Middlesex to take up a position with an agency running the commercial interests of Zimbabwe cricket. It was a pretty challenging role in a very challenging environment. During his time in agency he worked extensively on the European Tour and on various other cricket projects including two World Cups and the launch of T20 in England. Rupert moved on to the challenges of Premier League football with Southampton where he learned the harsh lesson that a good performance off the pitch matters little when the team don’t perform on it! Relegation was the catalyst for a change in direction when he moved to a finance boutique specialising in Image Rights for sportsmen and entertainers. He then went on to set up his own business with two specialisms: Sport Finance and Sponsorship Consulting, working with many top flight football clubs, governing bodies and individual athletes over the years. Two years ago, with a collection of contacts made over the years, he started work on a new fitness app which launched in April last year. The Pandemic has been both a challenge and an opportunity for this new venture, but by applying a sponsorship and partnership approach to selling, it is definitely edging closer to becoming a player in this market.