EUROPE – The Operational Effectiveness Director of event management agency Universal WorldEvents, Nicola Burns, is to step up as MD following Graham McIntosh’s decision to leave the company at the end of the year.
McIntosh was one of the key forces behind UDG Healthcare’s purchase of Procon, Universal CIT and WorldEvents and the subsequent merger of UniveralProcon and WorldEvents.
The agency says that for the last 12 months McIntosh has been combining his role as Group MD of Universal WorldEvents with that of CEO of Ashfield Japan and President of Pharmexx Northern Europe, a more recent acquisition of the Ashfield Commercial and Medical Services Division, so “his involvement with Universal WorldEvents had been slowly on the decrease”.
McIntosh has also been involved with Eventia as a member of the organisation’s board from which he will also stand down at the end of the year.
“It has been an incredibly difficult decision; in fact, one of the most difficult I have ever had to make,” says McIntosh. “I joined Ashfield in 1998 at the very beginning and 15 years later it has over 4,000 employees. The meetings and events business now has over 300 employees and Universal WorldEvents has seen double digit growth year on year since its merger.”
McIntosh will be joining a new pharmaceutical company, which is not competitive to any part of the Ashfield Group, as CEO and a key stakeholder.
Burns has over 20 years’ experience in the healthcare industry, and started working with Universal WorldEvents’ sister company In2Focus in 2002. In the 10 years with the company, she has worked in a number of different roles, including Head of Sales Operations, Head of Business Services and Head of HR and Training. She worked closely with the management team through the acquisitions and subsequent merger of the events businesses, and was heavily involved in the development of Universal WorldEvents.
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