LTA loses its sponsorship director to cricket charity

The Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) director of international sponsorship, John Feaver, has left after 22 years to head a children’s charity.

The Wimbledon-based LTA is going through a reorganisation and is expected to announce a replacement for him next month.

Feaver has joined The Lord’s Taverners, a cricketing-based charity, as head of fundraising and commercial.

He will be responsible for increasing the profile of the Taverners and generating additional income. The group raises about £36m a year for special-needs children and youth sport.

“This is a new opportunity in another sport, having been involved in tennis for some time,” he says. “I’ve always been a cricket lover and this charity is a good way to maximise money for children in need.”

The Taverners organises about 50 events, mainly celebrity cricket matches, each year.

Feaver, who started off at the LTA organising tours, will continue to be involved in Wimbledon, working on player relations.

A former Davis Cup player, in recent years Feaver has teamed up with John Lloyd and played against John McEnroe in the Legends event at the All England Club.

“At Wimbledon you don’t have sponsors, you have official partners. It’s a closed event with no signage in the centre court. It’s very unusual these days and quite refreshing, because sport is a very commercial business,” he added.

Recommended

Failure is not an option

Marketing Week

The straight-talking head of Interpublic’s newly merged ‘smart’ integrated offering is a larger-than-life character, one who believes that accountability and cost efficiencies are as important as creativity – as we reveal in this exclusive interview with Marketing Week. By Catherine Turner.

Thomson raids Yell for marketing chief

Marketing Week

Thomson Directories has appointed former Abbey marketer Gary Brown as its marketing chief to replace Kendall Gordon, who left at the end of last year after 17 years at the company. Brown, who joins from Yell where he was head of product and customer marketing, becomes product and marketing director at Thomson. It is not […]

PizzaExpress begins agency talks

Marketing Week

PizzaExpress is believed to be in talks with agencies about an integrated advertising campaign. The pizza chain does not have an advertising agency of record but is understood to be in talks with a number of undisclosed agencies. It has traditionally relied on its high street network and word-of-mouth marketing to promote its name. However, […]