Frazer Chesterman and Marcus Timson leave Fespa
It has been confirmed that Frazer Chesterman and Marcus Timpson are leaving Fespa to join the management team of UK-based event organising company Mack Brooks Exhibitions. Chesterman, managing director, exhibitions and events, will be replaced as MD by print industry newcomer Neil Felton on 11 May. It is being left to him to recruit Timson’s replacement as sales and marketing director.
According to Fespa CEO Nigel Steffens both Chesterman and Timpson will attend the Fespa Digital show in Hamburg, which opens on 24 May, and leave thereafter. “They were presented with an opportunity too good to miss,” said Steffens, who was made aware of the pair’s intention to leave Fespa at the end of March. At the time of going to press neither Chesterman nor Timson were available for comment but Steffens added: “The Board expresses its sincere thanks to both Frazer and Marcus for the contribution they have made to the growth of Fespa.”
Felton, who speaks fluent German and will also attend Fespa Digital, will report to Steffens and take direction of Fespa’s international portfolio of exhibitions. The organisation’s exhibition sales, operations, marketing and events teams will report to Fenton who in has most latterly held the position of executive director for exhibitions at William Reed Business Media which has business-to-business events in the food and drink sectors. This included the UK’s largest food-led event, attracting in excess of 40,000 visitors. During his six-year tenure with William Reed Business Media, Felton presided over a three-fold growth in event revenues from his division. He directed the launch of the Food and Drink Logistics Show, and devised several other business growth initiatives. Prior to that, Felton spent eight years at Penton Media Europe.
Felton said of his new appointment: “Fespa’s growth in the last six years has been phenomenal, yet in several regions and market segments this is only the tip of the iceberg. Undoubtedly there are still untold opportunities for Fespa to bring together print service providers and their suppliers, and to create environments where the community can share its collective technical and commercial knowledge and expertise.”
- Fespa has launched a smart-phone app that automatically downloads the latest Fespa Digital show information. It can be downloaded across all mainstream platforms including Apple, Android and Blackberry.