AEG Europe Announces Three New Appointments
John Langford appointed as Chief Operating Officer
Emma Bownes promoted to VP of Venue Programming
Paul Reeve confirmed as Chief Financial Officer
AEG Europe today announced the appointments of John Langford (currently Vice President and General Manager of The O2) as Chief Operating Officer, Paul Reeve (currently Finance Director of The O2 & The SSE Arena, Wembley) as Chief Financial Officer, and Emma Bownes (currently Programming Director) in the newly created role of Vice President of Programming across AEG's European venue portfolio. Their appointments follow the recent news that Alex Hill will take over as President of AEG Europe from 1st January 2019.
AEG Europe owns and operates major venues across Europe including The O2 in London; The SSE Arena, Wembley; Hamburg’s Barclaycard Arena; Berlin’s Mercedes Benz Arena and Verti Music Hall; Stockholm Live; and AccorHotels Arena in Paris.
Commenting on the appointments Alex Hill said: “I’m looking forward to working closely with John, Paul and Emma in continuing our vision of excellence across our portfolio of European Venues and other live entertainment and sports properties”.
John Langford joined AEG in November 2016 as Vice President and General Manager of The O2, and has been responsible for the continued growth and success of the world's busiest arena, which last year celebrated its 10th anniversary, and this year saw the opening of ICON Outlet, a premium outlet shopping centre, under its world-famous roof. Prior to joining The O2, John was Director of Live Entertainment for the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow. His new role will be based at AEG Europe’s King Street headquarters from 1 January 2019.
John Langford commented: “We've got amazing venues and superb people across the AEG global family, and I'm really proud that I can continue to play a key part in delivering on our vision to give the world a reason to cheer."
Paul Reeve has been announced as the new Chief Financial Officer for AEG Europe. Paul joined AEG over 5 years ago, as the Financial Director of The O2 and The SSE Arena, Wembley. He has been responsible for driving the financial and commercial success of the two venues, financing key development projects such as ICON Outlet, the premium shopping outlet at The O2, and UK wide AEG corporate affairs. Prior to joining AEG Paul held senior European finance roles in media at Dentsu Aegis and WPP plc
Paul Reeve said of his new role “I’m hugely excited by this opportunity to shape the business priorities and commercial growth of AEG Europe alongside Alex and the talented European management team.”
Also announced is the appointment of Emma Bownes as Vice President of Venue Programming across all European venues. Currently Programming Director for The O2, and The SSE Arena, Wembley, Emma was recently featured in Music Week’s Women in Music Roll of Honour 2018. She has worked for AEG Europe for 8 years, programming, developing and curating content for London’s two largest arenas. She most recently programmed a run of shows to celebrate The O2’s 10th birthday which included performances from Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters, alt-J, Celine Dion and Jamiroquai. She will remain based at The O2, starting the new role from January 2019
Emma Bownes said: “It’s an honour to be recognised in this way by AEG and I’m looking forward to focussing on programming across all of our venues in Europe. With the way European touring is developing this is a brilliant opportunity for us to be joining forces and making planning simpler for our promoters.”
About AEG Europe
Headquartered in London, AEG Europe is a subsidiary of AEG, the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company. In Europe, AEG owns or operates sports and music facilities and entertainment districts across the continent including The O2, and The SSE Arena, Wembley in London; Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg; Mercedes Platz in Berlin; Stockholm Live in Stockholm; and AccorHotels Arena in Paris. Through its Global Partnerships division, AEG delivers corporate brands the largest sports and live music marketing network in the world. AEG’s music division, AEG Presents is a global leader in concert promotion and venue management, running European music festivals; Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park, All Points East and Rock en Seine.