Alan Brydon Made @8OutdoorMedia Chairman

Maddie Cotterill

Back in October 2016, Alan Brydon, previously Chief Executive of Outsmart (before it was abandoned by certain sections of the UK industry), joined 8 Outdoor as Non-Executive Board Director.

This week it was announced that super nice, intelligent, very very clever man Alan Brydon has been appointed as chairman and comes also with news of three new senior roles; Kanjeev Sikka joins as strategic business director, Tania Doorn joins as head of direct sales and Rob Smith is appointed development director.

Cennydd Roberts, CEO, 8 Outdoor told us “In just 18 months we have become the fastest growing digital out of home media owner in the UK market and we are now entering the next phase of our growth strategy. This team of hugely talented people will support our drive to put more screens in more cities to provide advertisers with more audience and more choice. We are ready to help our customers make the very most of the incredible benefits offered by our rapidly expanding UK estate of digital billboards”.

Alan Brydon has more than 25 years’ experience in the media industry, during which time he has held senior roles at Havas Media Group, MEC and MPG. He takes over from John Story, who after completing a successful two-year tenure, returns to his principal role as major investor in the business.

  • As strategic business director, Kanjeev Sikka will lead the formation of new client partnerships and drive commercial business. Sikka was formerly commercial director at C3UK and previously worked at MMG, Ministry of Sound, Future Publishing, Admedia and Brandspace.
  • Tania Doorn becomes head of direct sales where she is responsible for revenue growth within the direct sales team. In the first two months of 2017, Doorn has already led the implementation of 8 Outdoor’s campaigns with companies such as Screwfix, CV Library, Selco and Vitabiotics. Prior to 8 Outdoor, Doorn was area sales manager at Clear Channel.
  • As development director, Rob Smith will manage 8 Outdoor’s growing property portfolio, by finding premium sites for new digital billboards in towns and cities across the UK. This follows recent installations of screens in locations including Liverpool, Manchester and Aberdeen. Smith has over 15 years’ experience in the out-of-home industry and before joining 8 Outdoor was business development director at Edifice.

8 Outdoor are promising a number of innovations this year, including automated trading, premium quality of ad delivery, reporting and tracking.


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