Threshold Sports Appoints Karen Earl To Board

Threshold Sports has appointed Karen Earl as a non-executive board director. The London-based sports marketing agency was created in 2007 and boasts a client roster that includes BP, Nokia, Standard Life, Deloitte, Cisco, Dulux, adidas, Sport Relief, Comic Relief and MITIE.

Karen Earl joins the sports marketing operation following an illustrious career spanning over 40 years, having stepped down from Synergy Sponsorship last year. Karen is chair of the European Sponsorship Association, the sponsorship trade association she co-founded in 1990. Now running her own mentoring business, KE Mentoring, Karen continues to use her position as the best-known woman in the sponsorship world to help champion talent and pioneer better qualification within the industry.

Charlie Beauchamp, MD of Threshold Sports said, “Karen is one of the true pioneers in the sponsorship industry with an enviable track record of delivery, a wealth of knowledge and a history of mentoring talent. Since setting up Karen Earl Sponsorship in 1984, she is widely recognised as one of the most influential people in sport in the UK. We had for a long time admired Karen from afar and are delighted she has become part of Threshold Sports. She is an inspirational leader, hugely liked and respected and will bring enormous value to Threshold as we continue to expand.”

Karen Earl said, “I’m delighted to be joining Threshold Sports as a non-executive Director.  I had no intention of furthering my agency career, but this agency has a genuinely original approach both in creating mass participation events and in its consultancy offering.   I know I’m going to enjoy working with the people at Threshold who all have a wonderfully positive attitude and I feel I can add some value to their operation.”

In addition to Karen Earl’s appointment, Raefe Winstanley also joins Threshold Sports as a non-executive Director. With more than 15 years experience in senior banking and wealth management roles, Australian-based Winstanley recently spent six years with Barclays Bank as Commercial Director across the Insurance and Investments, Premier Banking and Liability Products business in the UK.  Prior to Barclays, Raefe worked in senior management positions for Westpac in Australia for five years across Product, Marketing and Human Resources, and as an accountant with Ernst and Young, specialising in business turnarounds. 

Threshold Sports have joined forces recently with Brazilian agency Koch Tavares to provide on-ground presence in Brazil in the build-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2016.