Earl is chairman of Karen Earl Sponsorship, the agency which she started in 1984.
She was also a founder member of ESCA (the forerunner to ESA) and served on the board in the early 1990s including a term as vice chairman.
Earl is one of the best known figures in the sponsorship industry and has worked for some of the biggest names in sponsorship over the years including, Cornhill, Benson and Hedges, Silk Cut, Guinness, RBS, npower and Coca Cola. KES is now part of the Engine Group.
Steve Cumming is one of the leading sponsorship practitioners within the industry.
He spent nearly ten years at Carlsberg-Tetley where he was responsible for Carlsberg’s sponsorship of Premiership soccer club Liverpool as well as overseeing Carlsberg UK’s sponsorship programmes with the England soccer team and the European Championships.
Before taking up his current role with Diageo he was head of sponsorship at Coca Cola where he was responsible for Coke’s sponsorship of the Football League Championship.
The new ESA board will meet in October to elect a chairman to succeed Nigel Currie who stepped down from the post and the board at this week’s AGM.
