The Fespa Team

Neil held a variety of senior exhibition roles prior to joining FESPA in 2011, culminating as executive director at William Reed where he presided over a three-fold growth in event revenues from his division.
 
Since joining FESPA as Managing Director, the organisation has gone from strength to strength, experiencing remarkable growth. Neil has been instrumental in the launch of four new regional FESPA shows across the globe. In 2013 alone, more than 60000 printers visited a FESPA exhibition somewhere in the world. Neil was promoted to the position of CEO in 2013.
 
Neil gained sales experience in a series of media roles following his graduation from Thames Valley University, where he gained a degree in Modern European Studies. Neil also speaks fluent German.
 
Neil comments: “As the only organisation on the AEO Board that represents trade associations worldwide, FESPA anticipates that my involvement with the Board will enable our organisation to work with a variety of different people and exhibition organisers in countries where FESPA has no presence currently.”

Sean joined FESPA in 2013 in the position of General Secretary. In September 2017 Sean was promoted to the position of Executive Director and now has joint responsibility alongside the CEO for the management and leadership of FESPA. As Executive Director, Sean has corporate responsibility for HR, Finance IT and Facilities and works closely with the FESPA President, Board and CEO to set the strategic direction and policies for the organization. Sean also coordinates FESPA’s support for its 37 National Associations, including the organisation of educational, knowledge-sharing and networking initiatives funded through the Profit for Purpose programme.
 
Prior to joining FESPA Sean has over 17 years’ experience in the not-for-profit/public sector. His most recent post prior to joining FESPA was as CEO of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA). Sean was responsible for establishing the newly created Institute and for setting the strategic direction of the organisation, engaging with multiple stakeholders and partners and over 5,000 members. He directed and developed CIMSPA’s service offering, which comprises of education, training, professional development, events, conferences and other member services.
 
Sean previously spent 13-years with Sport England, during which time he worked in various roles culminating as Director for London and the Olympics, with responsibility for planning towards the London 2012 Games.
 
When not working you will find Sean either playing or watching sport, in the gym or with his wife and four children.

Sarah joined FESPA in 2016 bringing 15 years marketing experience gained across several B2B sectors including exhibitions, loyalty and travel. Sarah has worked with iconic brands including Tesco, Shell, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Responsible for marketing across FESPA, Sarah heads up the global marketing team responsible for promoting FESPA’s exhibition and event portfolio as well as FESPA’s corporate and association and online content marketing activities. A member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Sarah has been the driving force behind numerous award wins over the last decade including Exhibition News Team of the Year, ARC In-flight Concessionaire of the Year, ISPY Airline of the Year and most recently AEO International Show of the Year for FESPA Mexico in 2018.

Andy has worked within finance for over 20 years, including 13 years experience within the exhibitions and events industry.  Before FESPA, he enjoyed 10 years at William Reed Business Media Ltd working closely with the UK and International teams to help grow their face to face portfolio.

After qualifying in 2009, Andy has performed in various financial roles including senior management accountant and a business analyst before moving to FESPA as Head of Finance.

Away from work Andy likes to spend his time with his wife and two young children. He enjoys going to watch live sport, comedy and music whenever he can.