Leadership Team

Mark Shashoua

Chief Executive Officer

Having co-founded the business (then called ITE Group) in 1991, Mark returned as CEO in 2017 with a strong vision for the company’s potential and initiated a Group-wide transformation to future-proof the business. That transformation saw the company radically evolve. It changed from siloed working to a centralised model of best practice, from an emerging markets focus to a portfolio 95% rooted in advanced economies, and from a sprawling portfolio of mixed quality products to a streamlined focus on only market-leading events. This led to the average revenue per event increasing more than eight-fold, and attention is now on expanding the company’s digital products. Thanks to Mark’s leadership, the Hyve of today has resilience, diversity and enormous scalability.
 
Transforming businesses is in Mark’s DNA and prior to re-joining Hyve, Mark was CEO of i2i Events Group, the event arm of Ascential plc, where he led the internationalisation and diversification of the business. It was at i2i that he first adopted a market leading event only approach that led to turning a declining business to one of consistently high organic growth. This was supplemented by a number of leading acquisitions including Money20/20, which grew substantially under his guidance. 
 
Mark is driven by his ambition to reimagine the events industry, disrupting it through digitisation. His aim is to transform everyone’s expectations of what’s really possible at events and help customers to realise the game changing possibilities that Hyve events hold for businesses and beyond.

John Gulliver

Chief Finance and Operations Officer

John was appointed as the Company’s COO in October 2017. With effect from 1 October 2020 John took up the newly-formed combined role of CFO and COO. He oversaw the rollout of best practice as part of the TAG programme. John also has responsibility for implementing and maintaining our best practice operating model across our global network of exhibitions.

Prior to joining, John held senior financial positions in the media sector, including Interim CFO at Emap/Top Right Group and also Divisional CFO at Ascential, and CFO of i2i Events Group from June 2012 to June 2017, where he worked alongside Mark Shashoua, CEO. Prior to that, John was Finance Director at Precise Media from 2008 to 2010.

John’s background in finance and operational transformation, as well as his experience in the events sector, underpins his passion for bringing about positive change and disruption within the industry. John enjoys working in a change-led environment and loves the passion, energy and sense of achievement that occur as the company, and the people working within it, realise their potential. 

Jo Rabbett

Chief of Staff

As Chief of Staff, Jo is the collaborative partner bringing together all functional areas of the business, and works closely with the Executive Leadership and Group Management teams to align and execute on vision, strategy and operational priorities. In addition, Jo drives the people priorities while leading the evolution of a sustainable and inclusive culture, and is responsible for creating a globally unified workplace culture which supports Hyve in achieving its ambitions and realising its full potential. 

Jo joined Hyve in November of 2020, bringing with her 20 years of HR experience. Prior to joining Hyve, Jo held a number of senior and international HR positions in the media industry. Her latest work was providing HR consultancy to DMGT and prior to that she has supported Guardian Media Group, as well as i2i Events Group, where she worked alongside Mark Shashoua and John Gulliver. Most recently though, Jo has been combining her love of travel and food whilst she toured Europe in her converted van.

Jo’s passion lies in nurturing a place of work which celebrates and develops the talent that exists within a business.

Helen Kennedy Shamir

General Counsel

Helen is responsible for leading our global legal team and for overseeing our worldwide legal affairs including corporate, commercial, litigation, and intellectual property matters. She joined in 2019 from ‘Big Four’ consulting firm EY, having previously been Acting General Counsel for FTSE250 venture capital investor IP Group plc. Helen read Law at Newcastle University and is qualified to practice law in England and Wales.

Helen is an M&A and investment specialist corporate lawyer, with a breadth of experience advising UK and international boards and companies. Helen’s career to date has seen her work in the UK, US and Australia advising entrepreneurial businesses and delivering legal support to clients, organisations and internal stakeholders in challenging and fast-paced environments. 

Helen is passionate about the practice of law and making law accessible as a career to everyone.

Robert Pfeiffer

Chief Corporate Development Officer

Robert accompanied Hyve as a consultant through its significant and transformational changes over the recent years, including the company's acquisitions, disposals and capital markets transactions. He joined Hyve in February 2022 to take responsibility for the company's corporate development and strategy. 
 
Prior to joining Hyve, Robert founded April INP in 2017 which provides strategic support to CEOs and owners through transformational events. Robert was the managing director of Bryan, Garnier & Co’s London operations and had the same responsibility for Compass Advisors before that. 
 
Robert finds much inspiration and joy in seeing transaction and strategy work from the “inside” and being able to witness the growth and value creation that happens when strategy, corporate finance and operations work together. Robert was ordained as a minister in the Church of England in 2022.

James Warsop

Group Finance Director

James joined Hyve in February 2016 and worked in a number of roles within the Group Finance team prior to being appointed as Group Finance Director in October 2020. James leads our global finance teams and is responsible for Hyve’s Group-wide finance activities, including financial reporting, commercial finance, tax, treasury and procurement. During his time at Hyve James has played a key role in the Group’s evolution, overseeing the financial elements of the Group’s M&A activity and its TAG transformation programme.
 
James qualified as a chartered accountant at Deloitte where he worked in the audit practice from 2009 to 2014. While at Deloitte James managed the audit engagement for a number of organisations within the events sector, including Informa and ITE. Prior to joining Hyve James spent 18 months at The Football Association within the Group finance team.

Jose Papa

Executive Vice President, Americas

Jose Papa is a Brazilian entrepreneur who has worked with major players in the market. He was CEO of Trace, a pioneering platform for Afro-Urban culture in Brazil, and is the Global Chairman of Bett, the world’s largest edtech platform, also part of Hyve’s portfolio. He has also served as CEO of Cannes Lions in London, the world’s largest creativity festival, and WGSN in New York, the world’s leading trend forecasting company.
Along with other founders, he created Pyaar, an investment fund to finance ventures in favelas across Brazil.

Jose brings with him a legacy of transformation in global organisations, an entrepreneurial vision and a commitment to social change.

Jose will be responsible for the development and international expansion of Hyve's portfolio in the Americas. His approach to leadership and passion for innovation and social inclusion are key to driving company growth and promoting business opportunities in the region.

“Joining Hyve now is a truly unique opportunity to be part of a transformative and purposeful journey, where passion meets innovation in the company’s most exciting moment so far.”

Nikki Griffiths

Group Communications & ESG Director

Having supported Hyve on a consultancy basis for a number of years, Nikki was appointed Group Communications and ESG Director in October 2021. Nikki's background lies predominantly in the field of internal communication and colleague engagement, demonstrating Hyve's prioritisation of its people, and its commitment to creating a supportive and positive culture. 

Nikki is also responsible for Hyve's environment, social and governance strategy, as the Group looks to take a more proactive role in addressing sustainability not just within the events sector, but also across those sectors which its event brands support. 

Nikki is hugely passionate about inclusion and creating opportunities from people of all backgrounds to succeed, as well as an open and collaborative culture where every colleague can be themselves and feel valued. 

Jessica Natinsky

Group Strategy Director

Jessica joined Hyve in June 2021, working in both Divisional strategy and Group transaction support before being appointed as the Group Strategy Director in February 2022. Jessica leads the Group Strategy function and is responsible for the implementation of Hyve's overarching strategic goals, including the formulation of M&A, product and go-to-market strategies across the business, and ensuring alignment across the Group's key strategic areas.
 
Prior to Hyve, Jessica spent six years in strategy consulting where she gained experience navigating complex strategic issues and developing impactful and actionable recommendations for organisations across industries, with a focus on the TMT sector. Most recently, Jessica was an Engagement Manager at LEK, working in both the US and UK. During her time in consulting, Jessica led a broad range of projects including: buy and sell-side diligence, strategic planning, business model development and growth opportunity assessments.
 
Jessica is passionate about driving meaningful growth and value within a business through collaborative, data driven projects that address rapidly evolving and complex strategic challenges.

Grant Altson

Chief Information Officer

Grant leads Hyve's global technology team and works with all areas of the business to ensure technology is helping to drive our vision and strategy. Grant joined Hyve in February 2022 as a Tech Advisor, bringing over 25 years of experience in technology roles across various sectors, before taking on the role of CIO in June 2022. He has worked on a number of key acquisitions and disposals for Hyve, including the complex separation of the Russian business, and has also been instrumental in developing strategic partnerships with leading technology providers to support our event portfolios.
 
Prior to joining Hyve, Grant led technology for the consumer media division of DMGT, where he was responsible for managing global technology operations and delivery. Before that, Grant held roles in various tech start-ups, retail and media, including Haymarket Publishing where he managed digital media operations. Grant has wide experience at building and leading diverse technology teams, M&A tech integration and delivering robust information security improvement programmes. 

Sophie Wawro

Global President - RetailTech

Sophie joined Hyve in September 2022 to lead our global RetailTech portfolio, including Shoptalk, Shoptalk Europe and Groceryshop. She has spent her whole career working at the intersection of events and technology, and is passionate about creating ground-breaking event experiences.
 
Sophie started her career at i2i Events Group in the EdTech portfolio, before spending time in the tech space as Commercial Director of a media startup. She joined Ascential in 2015 to project manage the European launch of the FinTech event Money20/20 and was Event Director of that show for five years, more than doubling its revenue in that time. After a year leading content for a B2C startup in the virtual events space, Sophie is back in the world of B2B tech events, leading two of Hyve's most successful tech brands. 

Nicola Meadows

MD - Retail, Manufacturing & Engineering

Nicola was promoted to the Divisional Managing Director for the Retail, Manufacturing and Engineering Division in April 2023. Previously Retail Portfolio Director on Spring Fair, Autumn Fair, Moda, and Glee, Nicola takes on the leadership responsibility for Pure London, Scoop, Source Home and Gift, Source Fashion, Source Gardening and the CWIEME and Breakbulk portfolios, with a vision to nurture and maximise the division’s potential, creating even more game-changing impact for our retail, manufacturing and engineering customer communities.

Nicola has over 15 years’ experience in creating high quality customer experiences across events and the retail sector. She has worked at Amazon UK, Ascential PLC, Centaur Media PLC, Immediate Media, and on leading events including RWM, BVE, The Franchise Shows, The Country Living Fairs, MOVE IT, The Cycle Show, The London eBike Festival, Festival of Quilts, The Knitting and Stitching shows, and The Adventure Travel Show.

Passionate about change, Nicola has an established track record working in disruptive markets and empowering others to embrace change for positive outcomes. Developing people and encouraging others to learn new skills is a priority for Nicola, in her work life and personal. She is a true believer that everyone can achieve great things, with focus, and the right support network. 

Gordon Payne

MD - EdTech & Natural Resources (Interim)

Gordon has been with Hyve since February 2017 and was Regional Director for the Group's Asia division until 2021. He has over 20 years of senior leadership experience in major business media companies including UBM (now Informa Markets) where he led their highly successfully business in Amsterdam for eight years. Prior to Hyve, Gordon worked with Mark Shashoua on the acclaimed transformation of Emap connect into i2i Events Group, where he focused on creating the critical international dimension to the business that drove much of i2i’s growth. Gordon has worked extensively in China, India, Latin America, Middle East, USA and Europe.

He is currently leading our EdTech and Global Natural Resources portfolio on an interim basis. 

Thomas Whelan

Regional Director - Asia

Based in Hong Kong, Tom is Regional Director for the Asia division and also sits on the board of Hyve’s joint ventures in China and Indonesia. Tom joined Hyve in October 2016 as Finance Director, Asia. Prior to joining Hyve, Tom held senior roles in finance and procurement across real estate, banking and telecom businesses such as JLL, Citibank & Singtel-Optus, alongside leading a lean transformation program to drive operational efficiencies. Tom has a master’s degree in Finance from University College, Dublin and is a qualified accountant.

Tom is passionate about driving a collaborative and supportive culture across all business workstreams to support and implement Hyve’s dynamic customer-centric strategy.