Nicholas Rudge joined Encore in 2018 as Managing Director – EMEA, to lead and further grow our business and identify new opportunities across the region.

Prior to joining Encore, Nik has held a number of senior B2B leadership roles through sales to general management. Specialising in the events and media sector with companies including UBM and ITE Group PLC, he has experience leading international operations across a number of countries and continents as well as international sales groups. Nik has a proven track record of leading strategic development, M&A and building high performing, customer focussed teams.

Whilst running his own consultancy practice, Nik worked as an industry advisor to Blackstone on a number of large-scale transactions within the event and exhibition sector as well as working with a number of event organisers to develop strategy, operational excellence and commercial performance.

Des McEwan is Chief Financial Officer for the EMEA region, with the Finance, IT and Legal teams reporting to him.

Des is a trusted partner to the Managing Director, EMEA and the broader leadership team for all aspects of the company’s business providing strategic, analytical and business support. He leads the development of the group’s strategic plan each year and plays a pivotal role in future M&A activity – through origination and deal flow, business case preparation, financial modelling, executive team presentations into post transaction integration.

Prior to joining the Encore, Des held Group Financial positions over the last seven years within ITE Group PLC, more recently as CFO and has managed multiple acquisitions over the years, following an initial 10 years with Deloitte.

Fiona is a customer-focused, strategic leader with extensive international industry experience, gained both in commercial roles with global hospitality brands and as a Partner in hospitality consultancy. She has deep, cross-functional expertise in sales, meetings & events and distribution, as well as a passion for innovation. Fiona is responsible for leading the Encore EMEA Commercial strategy, driving International growth. Heading up Encore’s Sales and Marketing teams, her role is to ensure our customers have exceptional event experiences and that we deliver value for our strategic partners.

Prior to joining Encore, Fiona headed up Sales Operations for Hilton across Europe. Fiona holds an MA (Cantab) from Cambridge University in Modern Languages.

Simon Wood joined Hawthorn over 20 years ago when the company employed only 5 people, rising to Director of Projects, responsible for Production and now holds the position of Group Production Director, EMEA.

Simon is responsible for identifying, assessing and further developing Encore EMEA’s production capabilities and developing a consistent set of production offerings that represents the depth and breadth of the company’s capabilities.

Originally trained in stage management, Simon worked in theatre and television before moving to corporate events with Hawthorn, where he built up a solid client base of agencies over the years.

Tom joined the business in the role of Group Operations Director – EMEA in late September 2021. He is responsible for all operational execution and delivery, as well as business performance, across EMEA, bringing together under a single leader our venue and production business as well as all Warehouse and Supply Chain operations. With 25 years at Encore, most recently as Divisional Vice President responsible for the Western Venue Division, Tom is uniquely positioned to continue to take the business forward and help to drive delivery of our business strategy.

Tom started with the company as a Technician and continued to advance in leadership roles before becoming a Regional Vice President in 2012, Divisional Vice President in 2018, and Senior Vice President in 2020.  Tom resumed his Divisional Vice President role post-pandemic to align with the adjusted business structure and was the leader for 12 states in seven major markets.

Amy Parkin joined Encore in 2021 and holds the position of Group HR Director, EMEA.

Amy is responsible for structuring and leading HR Centres of Excellence (CoE) across the EMEA region and ensuring the highest standards of learning & development within the EMEA team. Amy works closely with the EMEA Leadership Team to develop the organisational and people plans, ensuring alignment with Corporate and the International strategy, and spearheading our “Focus on You” strategy.

Prior to joining Encore, Amy held the role of Head of HR for a division of ABM Industries. She has over 18 years leadership experience within the aviation industry supporting Europe, Middle East and Asian regions, handling multiple acquisitions and organisational design projects across EMEA in that time period.

Amy holds a post graduate diploma in HR Management and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD).

Ingolf Zschockelt joined Encore in August 2011 as Chief Financial Officer – DACH, to lead and improve the financial function including HR, IT and other administrative functions. Since 2018 he holds the position of Regional Leader for the German-speaking region and the Netherlands (DACHNL) within EMEA’s leadership team.

Prior to joining Encore, Ingolf , a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with outstanding expertise in international accounting and IPO experience on an international basis, he has extensive experience in Corporate Finance, Private Equity and Banking businesses.  He started his career with a 6 years’ journey at Andersen in Corporate Finance and Accounting, LAZARD for two years, Investkredit Bank for two years and 5 years with Rödl Consulting. He holds a University diploma in Business Administration at Technische Universität Chemnitz from 1995.