Movers & shakers: ASM Global, NEC, Ziggo Dome

ASM Global has promoted three senior executives in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.

Mark Jan Kar has been promoted to senior vice president of entertainment, content and programming for the region, in addition to his current role as general manager of Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.

Kar joined ASM in 2018 as commercial director of Coca-Cola Arena. The following year he was put in charge of live entertainment at the venue and, in 2021, he was promoted to general manager.

Elsewhere, veteran Deb Rogers has been promoted to vice president of people and culture for Asia and the MENA region.

Her time with ASM Global began with Suncorp Stadium in 2002 as HR and training manager and since then has included the Burj Al Arab, Qatar National Convention Center, Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai, and Exhibition World Bahrain.

In addition, Iain Wooldridge, finance director of Coca-Cola Arena since 2019, has been promoted to chief financial officer for MENA. Wooldridge has two decades of experience in financial leadership and strategic management across the UK and the Middle East.

“The combined expertise of these professionals will generate enormous growth across our MENA region”

“The combined expertise of these professionals will generate enormous growth across our MENA region which is powerful for the joint success not only of our venues but for the developing entertainment industry across the region,” says ASM Global (APAC) chairman and chief executive, Harvey Lister AM.

The new hires come shortly after Martin McGougan was named ASM’s regional director of business development for the MENA Region.

Elsewhere in the industry, Sir Nick Varney has been appointed as the new chair of NEC Group, based in Birmingham, UK.

Varney has over 30 years of experience working in the tourism and leisure industry and was CEO at Merlin Entertainments from its inception in 1999 to his retirement in November 2022.

He has previously served as chair of UKHospitality, the trade body representing the UK’s hospitality and tourism industry, 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.

In the Netherlands, MOJO’s senior financial project manager Lorien Kramer has been appointed as the new director of operations at Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam.

In addition, the position of director of commercial affairs will be reintroduced at Ziggo Dome. This will be filled by Birgitte de Winter, the current general manager of AFAS Live.

She will be succeeded at AFAS Live by the current general manager of operations, Jan Willem Ruijs. Rick Gemser, the current head of commerce at the Ziggo Dome, will become the new director of commercial affairs at AFAS Live.

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