Four new additions to Rugby Club board
By Mark Stevens
2/8/19
Exeter Rugby Club chief executive and chairman Tony Rowe OBE has today welcomed four new directors onto the board of Exeter Rugby Club Limited.
Natasha Pavis (Managing Director), Lisa Duncan (Sales & Marketing Director), Nicky Teague (Finance Director) and Toni Percival (Administration Director) become the first females to be added to the Rugby Club board, which is the subsidiary company of the main Exeter Rugby Group PLC. And is the main trading company of the club.
Mr Rowe said the decision to promote the four long-serving females onto the board was a clear indication of how the club and the business as a whole have continued to grow in recent years.
In 2018, Exeter Rugby Club were the only profitable team in the Gallagher Premiership, boasting an annual turnover in excess of £20 million, an 18 per cent rise on the previous year's figure of £17.4 million.
"When we first moved to Sandy Park back in 2006, we had a turnover of something like £1 million," said Mr Rowe. "But over the past 13 years, the club, the stadium and the business have grown enormously whereby we now have an annual turnover of over £20 million.
"Our success on and off the field is down to a group of hard-working and dedicated staff, all of whom are determined to drive the club and our business onwards and upwards. The four newly-appointed directors have been heavily involved in raising our profile not just locally here in the South West, but nationally and internationally as well.
"Together with the existing board members, they will continue to oversee and spearhead the growth and the vision of our club, which I know is very exciting. Not only do we have big plans in terms of our work with Sandy Park Stadium and the Sandy Park Hotel, but equally we want to continue to forge ourselves as one of the leading rugby clubs both in England and in Europe.
"I have no doubt that all four new directors will bring valuable and positive input to the boardroom and I look forward to working with them in helping to drive the business forward."
ABOUT THE FOUR NEW DIRECTORS
Natasha Pavis (Managing Director)
Natasha joined Exeter Rugby Club in 2006 as the Hospitality Services Manager, when we opened Sandy Park Stadium to a 5,000 capacity on match-days and a full calendar of events.
Natasha and here team spent the first few years getting used to the new business of incorporating both rugby and conference & banqueting together. They developed staffing structures and areas of the stadium to meet the demand of match-days and provide a good customer service.
Very quickly Sandy Park became the No.1 place to hold an event in the Westcountry and as the Chiefs moved into the Premiership, they were increasingly getting acknowledged for our great, family friendly match day experience.
Over the past 13 years, Natasha has played a pivotal role in growing the business, developing the stadium and staffing structure to meet the needs accordingly. She moved from the role of Hospitality Services Manager to General Manager in 2014, where she has taken on more of a strategic position day-to-day, helping navigate the future growth of the business with Tony’s guidance.
Lisa Duncan (Sales & Marketing Director)
Lisa joined Exeter Rugby Club as Head of Sales and Marketing in January 2017.
Coming from an events and charity background, Lisa has brought innovation and many new initiatives to Exeter the club. She is no stranger to the sporting world having led Nike Europe’s events team, delivering Nike’s corporate sales conferences in the USA and Roland Garros in Paris.
Holistically the Chiefs continues to go from strength to strength, both on the pitch and behind the scenes; financially well-set in an ever more competitive sector, year on year increasing its revenue. This is due to the creative direction taken by the management, Lisa’s direction of the behind-the-scenes team and their tireless work ethic across Exeter Chiefs and Sandy Park.
Nicky Teague (Finance Director)
Nicky started her career with South West Communications Group Ltd over 25 years ago as a sales ledger clerk. She slowly worked her way up the ladder, ending up managing the accounts team and being responsible for running SWT Finance.
She was also involved in preparing the accounts internally at South West Communications Group for the Rugby Club, when they were based at the former County Ground. When Sandy Park was built, Nicky was asked to assist in the setting up of an accounts department to manage the accounts for both the rugby side and conferencing side of the business.
She was soon offered the opportunity to be based full-time at Sandy Park and took on the role of dealing with both the sales and purchase ledgers, as well as all other aspects of a busy accounts department.
These days she is responsible for running and managing a busy accounts department, with a team of three staff. Preparing annual budgets, monthly management accounts and reports, salary cap certifications and declarations along with the monthly payroll.
Toni Percival (Administration Director)
Toni's relationship with Exeter Rugby Club began in 1995, when she started working with South West Communications Group.
She made the switch to Exeter Rugby Club in 2010 and for the past nine years has been Office Manager and PA to the Chairman and Directors.
Toni's duties include managing various ongoing projects, working closely with the Board of Directors, dealing with media-sensitive and high-level documents & information, together with being the main contact for Premiership Rugby, RFU, European Rugby and various other partners and associates.
She is also responsible for overseeing the main reception, academy administration, Ticketing & Hospitality, together with match-days.