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Khan’s ‘night czar’ gets 40 per cent pay hike

Published

5 ay ago

Ocak 10, 2023

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Much was made of Amy Lamé’s appointment as London’s first ‘night czar’ back in November 2016. The then newly elected Mayor Sadiq Khan trumpeted that she would be a ‘much-needed ambassador for the city after dark… a fantastic hire who will give a big boost to our city’s flourishing nightlife’ with a ‘proven track-record of helping save venues’. But fast forward six years and such rhetoric seems somewhat hollow now.

Estimates vary as to how many London venues have closed in recent years, with Printworks among those sites set to shut in 2023. One count claims 58 venues shut during the pandemic – or 25 per cent of the capital’s nightclubs. Khan’s own City Hall points to data which suggests that the number of venues operating as nightclubs in the capital dropped by 22 per cent between 2019 and 2021, the fewest since the mid-nineties. The pandemic was unavoidable and disastrous for nightclubs in major urban areas across the globe. But London punters appear to be far from impressed by Lamé’s performance in office: a petition was launched in July 2020 calling for her to quit.

A week after that petition began, in August 2020, Lamé gave an interview to the Observer in which she claimed that ‘I will be judged by the work that I do.’ That same piece featured ‘unanimous’ criticism from ‘more than a dozen club owners, promoters and nightlife workers’ who believed that she had ‘achieved little in the post.’ Indeed, only 27 of Lamé’s much-vaunted ‘night surgeries’ are listed on her online page as being held between December 2016 and May 2022: an average of one every two and a half months.

Her supporters in City Hall suggest she has helped stem the fall in the number of grassroots music and LGBTQI+ venues, launching the Women’s Night Safety Charter and a £500,000 programme to create new Night Time Enterprise Zones. But she has not avoided controversy too. After Khan appointed her to the role, Lamé was ordered to delete a number of offensive tweets about the Conservative party, which included celebrating the death of Margaret Thatcher. She was also criticised for pocketing £1,000 from a drag event she helped to host in Walthamstow and faced questions over her own tax arrangements too.

Given this mixed record, after six years in post, you would think Lamé’s job might be on the line. Not a bit of it, judging by her remuneration package. For Mr S has today discovered that the ‘night czar’ quietly received a pay increase of 40 per cent more than the £83,169 widely-quoted in recent media reports. She is now in receipt of a salary of £116,925, thanks to two pay bumps in seven months: the first in September 2021 and the second in April 2022 as part of the Greater London Authority’s annual salary increment.

Neil Garratt, the Conservative economy spokesman for the GLA questioned Lamé’s ‘extravagant’ pay rise. He told Mr S that ‘instead of a blank cheque this post needs a fresh start, starting with whether we really need it at all.’ A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said:

The Night Czar’s job description was independently reviewed to better reflect the responsibilities of the role, as part of a restructure of the Mayor’s Office following the 2021 election. The post was then graded using the GLA’s usual independent process, from a grade 13 to 15.

Lamé said more than two years ago that she will be judged on the work she does. At what point will the verdict come in? Still, what can you expect at Sadiq Khan’s City Hall? Labour MP Chris Bryant may be spearheading calls in Westminster for ministerial registers to be overhauled but just down the road his party colleague Mayor Khan hadn’t added to his own register of gifts for six months. It was only after Mr S pointed this out today that the register was quietly updated, with Khan now detailing a further £6,898 in travel and accommodation.

So much for transparent government…

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Sales and Marketing Director (EMEA) – London

Published

4 ay ago

Şubat 2, 2023

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We are working closely with a leading international publisher of licensed children’s books to recruit an experienced Sales and Marketing Director for EMEA. This is an integral leadership role responsible for some of the world’s most recognisable and prestigious book brands.
What it takes:

A demonstrable track record of building both sales and margin growth, with a commercially minded approach
Experience in successfully managing and motivating teams located across international borders
Extensive knowledge and understanding of the co-edition and rights markets in licensed and/or children’s publishing
A complete understanding, beyond sales headlines, of margins, cost management and budgeting
Being capable of creating and executing sales and marketing strategies
Thriving in fast-paced work environments and being able to manage multiple high priority projects simultaneously
A strong leading voice across sales strategy, market development and marketing activities
An agile and strong communicator both internally and with licensors
Extensive EMEA or directly relevant experience

The right person is comfortable as a leader, with commercial experience managing a team to deliver successful business units, going beyond just a ‘sales department’.
With flexible working options, a very competitive salary and bonus structure, this role offers incredible opportunities for an ambitious and proven sales leader.
At Wonderful Recruitment we provide opportunities for candidates to discover some of the most interesting and dynamic roles in the entertainment industry. For more information about this role please send your CV and salary expectations to Dean@wonderfulideasproject.com and Dan@wonderfulideasproject.com.

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Paris, Madrid, Barcelona among candidate cities to host ICE from 2025 – IAG

Published

4 ay ago

Şubat 1, 2023

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Clarion Gaming, organizer of ICE London, says it has narrowed the shortlist of potential future hosts of the hugely popular industry trade show to four European cities, with its current London home joined by Barcelona and Madrid in Spain as well as Paris, France.
The decision to explore a potential move comes amid pressure from some industry representatives, with Clarion working alongside specialist consultants Equimore to establish the finalist shortlist. The successful candidate will be announced in 3Q23 following a competitive bidding process and will host ICE for a period of five years between 2025 and 2029.
“This robust process is customer-centric and the decision will be taken in the best interests of our stakeholders and of the global gaming industry,” said Alex Pratt, Group Managing Director of Clarion Gaming.
“iGB Affiliate London is very much part of the process and we are engaging with iGB Affiliate stakeholders in order to identify their preferred strategic path.
“The four short-listed cities will progress through a selection process with the help of the experienced and knowledgeable team at Equimore which is overseeing every aspect of what is a robust program.
“In addition to the suitability of locations in terms of capacity, facilities and the ability to accommodate projected future growth the process also encompasses dateline availability, transport connectivity with the rest of the world as well as the broader hospitality infrastructure including accommodation costs.
“By pursuing all due diligence we will identify the city that’s best equipped to not only host an event which continues to play such a central role in helping to create opportunity and prosperity for gaming businesses of all sizes, across every vertical and in every global jurisdiction, but also demonstrate its leadership in the sector.
“In the interests of transparency Clarion will not be making any further comment during the official process.”

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ICE London 2023 to feature exhibitors from record 68 nations – IAG

Published

4 ay ago

Ocak 31, 2023

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Industry trade show ICE London will feature exhibitors from a record 68 nations, topping the previous best of 65 set three years ago, according to organizer Clarion Gaming.
ICE London returns as a full-sized show for the first time since 2020 from 7 to 9 February, with the total 623 exhibitors representing everything from Argentina to Australia and Macau to Mexico.
“No other exhibition in the gaming space can come anywhere near the internationalism of ICE,” said Clarion Gaming Managing Director, Stuart Hunter.
“To have 68 nations represented by our community of exhibitors means that visitors are immediately part of what is a global experience with unique access to the smartest gaming innovators drawn from every corner of the world. There are very few exhibitions of scale in any industry sector which are able to compare with such international representation and legitimately lay claim to being a ‘global’ or a ‘world’ event.
“Once an event is recognized as being genuinely international, stakeholder groups including brands, regulators, trade associations, media groups and strategic industry-wide bodies focus their activities accordingly.
“Research that we’ve undertaken has shown that for many people ICE and iGB Affiliate London actually start on the Sunday preceding and finish on the following Saturday. In that week we estimate that over 100 gambling industry events will take place outside of the show hours providing a new and compelling perspective on why ICE and iGB Affiliate London are so influential and important to the world industry.”
IAG will have a team of four at ICE London next week. Visit us at Stand ND7-C.