London-based esports organisation Guild Esports have announced a couple of senior appointments for 2024.
Guild strengthen partnership sales team
Guild Esports have appointed Glynn Jones as Director of Agency Partnerships for Guild Studios, the company’s in-house production and creative division, with effect from January 29th 2024.
Glynn has over 13 years of experience working both agency and client-side across the digital industry. Most recently, he served as Agency Partnerships Lead for the UK at Snap, Inc. (aka Snap), the social media company which developed and operates social media platform Snapchat.
At Snap, he managed commercial partnerships with major agency holding companies and identified new revenue opportunities by onboarding new brands and scaling existing advertisers. Guild said ‘Snapchat is used by 90% of 13-24-year-olds in the UK, providing him with valuable exposure to Guild’s Gen Z target audience’.
He also has additional advertising and client management experience from his previous roles as Social Advertising Director at communications agency Manning Gottlieb OMD and as Social Media Manager at media network group Starcom, where he led award-winning digital campaigns for clients including PlayStation, Sony Music, Starbucks, Samsung International and P&G.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, said: “I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Glynn as he joins the Guild family. Glynn joins us at a time of great momentum for Guild Studios, as we look to build on the success of reaching Guild Esports’ $1.1m revenue milestone last year.
“His experience in digital marketing and media sales garnered over his 13-year career across advertising, marketing and social media will make him a great asset to Guild Studios as we identify new ways to engage Gen Z authentically.”
Guild Esports appoint new Chief Financial Officer
The news comes one week after Guild appointed Paul Kingsley as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Company Secretary with immediate effect.
Paul is a seasoned CFO with over 25 years’ experience working across the media, technology, retail and sports sectors. Over the last four years he gained experience as the CFO of Unidays, the world’s largest student affinity network, which supports over 29m Gen-Z members across 115 markets.
Guild says he also brings valuable experience from his prior roles as CFO at Edge.network, a firm providing a decentralised version of the cloud using Blockchain technology and Finance Director at Found Associates, an award-winning and international portfolio of luxury residences, workplaces and retail environments in London and New York.
Over his career, he has worked at FMCG brands Coca-Cola, Schweppes, and Diageo PLC and is currently on the Advisory Board of the British Beauty Council. Paul is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
Paul replaces Clare Jarvis. The Guild board said they ‘would like to thank Ms Jarvis for her valuable contribution to the company’s development and supporting Guild’s ongoing focus on financial prudence’.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented: “On behalf of the Board, I am delighted to welcome Paul to Guild. Paul brings extensive knowledge of the media, technology and sport sectors garnered over his lengthy career. Paul’s 25 years of strategic financial and C-Suite experience position him as a key asset in enhancing the Guild brand and future growth.
“His keen understanding of the Gen-Z demographic from his recent role at Unidays is highly relevant to Guild as an esports-and-gaming-focused media business, making him a valuable addition to our senior leadership team.”
Guild appoint special advisory to the board
Update (January 29th 2024): Guild have announced the appointment of Nathan Pillai as Special Advisor to the Board of Directors with immediate effect.
Nathan has more than two decades’ experience as an operator, builder and investor of blue-chip sport and entertainment properties including Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC, Williams Racing, World Rally Championship and SailGP.
He’s the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Caerus Ventures, an early stage investor and developer of key technologies transforming sport, music, entertainment and gaming.
Jocelin Caldwell will be stepping down from the board and leaving the company with immediate effect to focus on her other business interests. Guild said they ‘intend to appoint a replacement Non-Executive Director and a further announcement will be made in due course’.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented: “I’m delighted to welcome Nathan as Special Advisor to the Board. Nathan brings a blend of corporate and entrepreneurial experience leveraging the scale and reach of sports and entertainment platforms. This marks Guild’s second high-calibre Special Advisor appointment, and Nathan’s expertise in securing global brand partnerships and reaching new growth territories positions him as an asset to Guild as we continue to expand our international presence.
“The Board thank Jocelin for her meaningful contribution and wish her well for the future. The search for a replacement Non-Executive Director will start as soon as possible.”
Read more Guild Esports news on Esports News UK here
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
