Russ Lidstone

CEO

Starting his career at Coca-Cola, Russ has over twenty-five years’ experience in marketing communications as an agency strategist and CEO.

He has held planning and leadership roles in blue chip integrated advertising agencies including McCann, Butterfield Day, HHCL, Lowe, JWT and most recently Havas Worldwide, where he was CEO for over six years.

During his time at Havas London he won the accolade 'Media Employer of the Year' – his biggest point of personal pride.

David Sharrock

COO

David trained as an accountant with Ernst & Young before spending four years as a management consultant working mainly with clients in the media and creative sector.

He joined Guardian Media Group where he spent twelve years in financial and operational roles before he became Managing Director of MEN Media. He joined WRG’s leadership team as part of the acquisition of the business by LDC to support its growth. Somehow, he manages to coach a youth football team too.

Graeme Beavers

VP, North America

Graeme has been with WRG for nine years, following successful careers in sales and customer marketing at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and general management with the National Health Service in the UK.

As a client director in London, Graeme used deep healthcare insight to build a number of successful client accounts and some outstanding campaigns and events. Having moved to Philadelphia early 2014 to set up WRG’s presence in North America, he quickly established the office as a key part of the global network.

When not hard at work, Graeme can be found running the streets of Philly.

Mark Gass

Executive Creative Director

As group Creative Director, Mark’s responsible for the overall direction of all creative departments across the network.

Having spent over twenty years in advertising, creating international campaigns for the likes of Nivea as an Executive Creative Director at TBWA, he now sits comfortably at the evolving intersection where brand and experiential meet.

An advocate of our ‘Create Unforgettable’ ethos, he helps the team to deliver impactful and engaging experiences for the likes of Nokia, adidas, HP and Shell, right across the globe. Mark loves visiting art galleries - especially the gift shops - and is a sucker for anything handmade.

Kath Goodson

Client Engagement Director

Based in our London office, Kath joined WRG over 5 years ago, bringing with her a wealth of experience from a number of sectors to lead some of our global accounts.

Always putting clients’ best interests at the forefront of her mind, she is steadfastly committed to helping them achieve their objectives. She ensures consistency across all aspects of events and is devout in her pursuit of value for the client’s money, qualities that have made her a valued contact for clients including Nissan and HPE.

A lover of photography, Kath harbours an ambition to one day enter the World Photography awards.

Tim Williams

Operations Director

Since joining WRG eleven years ago, Tim has worked his way through the business to his current position.

In this role, he has direct responsibility for the UK Production, Logistics and Congress teams as well as playing a central role in overall direction and operational efficiency of the company as part of WRG’s Global Management Team.

Outside of work, Tim loves the outdoors, particularly anything that involves two wheels and going fast.

Tim Collett

Head of Live Events

A graduate of the Event Management degree program, Tim has over fifteen years’ experience in the live events industry, including over 11 years at Jack Morton as an Executive Producer.

Tim has led the creation and delivery of brand experiences across many industry sectors, and has operated around the world; from product launches, to roadshows, conferences, and meetings

In addition to his work in the corporate events arena, Tim has been instrumental in the coordination of some of the UK’s largest public events and spectacles.

When he isn’t leading the events team, Tim spends much of his spare time handling events schedules for his three young daughters – at swimming lessons, dance classes, and children’s parties.

Chris Brogan

Digital Creative Director

Chris has spent the majority of his career in advertising with McCann-Erickson, BJL and BDH/TBWA, designing campaigns for major brands in both traditional and digital advertising.

With a passion for design and innovation, Chris spends his time looking for insight into digital trends and exploring what is possible.

Chris enjoys the outdoors where you can find him hill walking, mountain biking – and above all other pursuits – snowboarding.

Madelaine Allen

Client Engagement Director

A passionate and dedicated account director with a wide experience of the pharmaceutical industry, she’s skilled in communication engagement and maximising impact and value of client investment.

With experience of leading global accounts and a variety of internal and external meetings in the UK, Europe, America and Asia, she’s overseen everything from small intimate brand forums, to large international congresses. Few know that she’s also a qualified ski instructor.

Charlotte Smithson

Creative Director

Charlotte thrives on the breadth of creative work we cover at WRG, and directs projects across the creative departments at our Manchester office.

She enjoys the challenge of changing behaviours in a memorable way, and the scope of creative possibilities in experiential marketing.

Charlotte plays a key role in our healthcare offering – yet in her 7 years at WRG, she has worked for a huge range of clients in various industries, and has spent time working in all of our global offices.

A little known fact about Charlotte is that she has the greenest balcony in Manchester.

Mark Jackson

Head of Environments

A trained Industrial Designer, Mark spent three years designing commercial interiors before joining WRG.

Having designed and delivered many of our largest international projects for clients such as adidas, Ricoh, Nokia and Orange, he’s now heading up a talented and expanding team. Under his stewardship, it’s seen a period of rapid growth globally, particularly in North America.

A keen mountain biker, his growing family have meant an ever larger bike collection.

Andrew Gilkerson

Client & Procurement Director

Andrew has been in the events industry for over twenty years, in both agency and corporate roles.

As well as operational and account management positions, Andrew spent ten years with global Pharmaceutical, Pfizer. He led the Meetings and Congress Procurement category for Europe, designing and delivering a regional strategic meetings management programme. As Client & Procurement Director at WRG, he uses his corporate procurement background to create value for clients in all areas of the client-supplier relationship.

When he gets the time, you'll find him out and about on his road bike.

Ben Atherton

Client Engagement Director

Ben joined WRG after 14 years at Nortel, Cisco and EY where he held a variety of senior marketing roles with a focus on global events and sponsorship.

  He led customer projects at the Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games and whilst at EY, worked with the UK’s leading entrepreneurial growth businesses.  He’s married with two children and reluctantly accepts he will never make it as a professional footballer.

Laura Hunt

Strategic Planner

Laura works with teams across the group, bringing deep insights into the business environment of some of the agency’s largest accounts.

Laura brings an analytical approach to projects, from over twelve years’ experience in marketing communications – specialising in account development, strategy, and collaboration with live experience teams. In her spare time she enjoys trying out all the latest exercise classes, including trampolining!

Lisa Stevens

Client Director

Lisa loves working with her clients to understand and develop a brief, and how it can be brought to life.

Lisa has over 12 years’ events experience working on both corporate and agency side. She has delivered a wide range of global events from 50-2000 delegates, across a range of sectors – retail, finance, automotive, and particularly healthcare.

When not working, Lisa loves running, spending time with her family and friends, and is always up for a glass of fizz!

Gemma Lowry

Head of Hybrid & Virtual Events

Gemma has over a decade of live event and communication expertise over various industries and channels.

As Head of Hybrid & Virtual Events she specialises in engaging virtual audiences to ensure the delivery of an interactive and memorable message. Day to day Gemma aligns closely with our Live, Film, Communications, and Digital teams to ensure seamless integration of these fundamental disciplines and to deliver a holistic and thought through programme.

Time spent away from the world of virtual events is all about life’s little luxuries…good food, exploring the world and a decent northern cuppa!

Hannah Parkinson

Marketing Manager

As marketing manager, Hannah coordinates the communication strategy for WRG and The Creative Engagement Group, to drive their digital presence.

Working across the agency and its network to maintain a consistent marketing approach, Hannah promotes our marketing stories through internal and external communications channels.

She brings with her ten years’ experience as account manager at WRG – handling multiple communications projects for a range of clients.

Hannah has a real passion for food and spends most of her spare time cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

Sallie Coventry

Client Engagement Director

Sallie leads the account strategy for our biggest pharmaceutical client internationally, looking for opportunities across The Creative Engagement Group.

She has worked in the events industry for 20 years – most of her career she has spent working for healthcare clients, which she finds massively rewarding. For Sallie, there is no better buzz than delighting clients with a brilliant idea. Sallie brings with her experience in logistics management, account direction, and delivering trade shows as portfolio lead for Reed Exhibitions.

Beyond her work life, Sallie enjoys hiking, swimming, and cooking. But not all at the same time.

Kristen Waddell

Client Engagement Director

Kristen is responsible for client engagement on a range of WRG’s global healthcare, technology and retail clients.

As well as taking our unique offering to existing clients, Kristen develops new markets for the agency across The Creative Engagement Group. She joined WRG after 6 years in the corporate pharmaceutical world, bringing her expertise in strategic change management. She joined WRG from the pharmaceutical industry, bringing her expertise in strategic change management, innovation, business process optimisation and global congresses.

Outside of work, Kristen enjoys interior design, hosting dinner parties, and skiing.

Melanie Ingram

Congress Project Director

Mel manages the day-to-day operations of our congress team. She carries her experience in logistics and client understanding into each new job.

Mel brings twelve years of experience in logistics – focusing on congress logistics –six years at WRG and a further six in her previous agency, all with the same client.

Built on the strong foundation of the client relationship, Mel has delivered a wide scope of work, including ad boards, investigator meetings, and congresses… all spanning over five continents.

In her downtime, Mel’s guilty pleasure is watching Emmerdale.