Warwickshire Cricket appoints top marketer

Warwickshire County Cricket Club has appointed James McLaughlin to the new role of commercial director. He replaces Stuart Robertson, who left to join Hampshire Cricket Club as group commercial director in April.

McLaughlin, who started last week, will be responsible for all marketing at the club, and will also oversee the corporate sales, sponsorship, retail and ticketing arms of the club. He will report to the club’s chief executive, Colin Povey, who is understood to be carrying out a review of the management team.

McLaughlin was previously commercial director at Watford Football Club, and held a similar role at Southampton FC. He has also worked at Nike in Holland.

Last week, the club unveiled Bears Mobile, a new interactive service launched in partnership with information management provider Memogo, which gives fans access to the latest club news and cricket images via their mobile handsets.

Outgoing marketing chief Robertson is a former marketing manager at the England and Wales Cricket Board. He oversaw the launch of Twenty20 Cricket, a shorter version of the game which was designed to attract new supporters.