UBM Live Appoints New Managing Director of Market Leading Events Portfolio

AMSTERDAM, March 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading b2b media company UBM Live today announced the appointment of Nik Rudge as Managing Director of UBMi BV, the Dutch based business which includes the market leading Food and Pharma Ingredients events portfolios, with full responsibility for the ongoing development of the two most prominent businesses in the UBM Live portfolio.  

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110314/NY64574 )

In his new role, effective February 28th, 2011, Rudge will continue reporting to Simon Foster, UBM Live's CEO, and will direct the continued growth and development of, amongst other things, the CPhI, ICSE, P-MEC and BioPh event brands, heading up a strong international management, marketing, operations and sales team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  He will also continue in his existing leadership role for the company's Middle East operations in Abu Dhabi and will be focused on expanding on past success by discovering ways to reshape the businesses and add new channels and acquisitions to the company's globally-respected exhibitions portfolio.  

Commenting on the appointment, Simon Foster said: "Nik has overseen the development and growth of our international portfolio of food ingredients brands and has successfully grown their global presence in markets as diverse as Europe, Asia and South America, including new launches in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. He brings a solid track record in driving top and bottom line performance, and has proven to lead his team with knowledge and experience. The approach he takes to management allows him to build and nurture effective global teams that are able to successfully lead media related activities. We are grateful to have his clear vision to help guide the business forward and pleased to announce this appointment."

Rudge also commented on his promotion, adding: "It is a huge honour to look after two of UBM's most prestigious portfolios and to be able to work with such a passionate and dedicated group of people. The team is committed to delivering best in class solutions and maximising client value.  This commitment allows UBM to provide top of the line solutions while maintaining a focus on ways to continuously improve and expand our offerings. "

Rudge joined UBM from Reed Exhibitions three years ago, taking the role of Group Director, where he was initially responsible for the company's Food Ingredients and Middle East portfolios and delivered exceptional results despite widespread global economic challenges.  Most notably, he was responsible for introducing Food Ingredients into new markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam, and has also been responsible for the roll out of several highly successful division-wide initiatives.  Rudge's combined experience includes 15 years in international sales and marketing. During his time at Reed Exhibitions UK he was responsible for the global energy and marine portfolio, including one of the UK's top 10 events..

Within the Food portfolio, Food Ingredients Europe (FiE) is the world's leading food ingredients events. The 2011 event will be held in Paris, France from 29th November to 1st December along with co-located event, Natural Ingredients. The combined events are expected to draw an attendance of over 20,000 this year. In addition to the flagship show, UBM live has a full global Food Ingredients (Fi) event line up: China (21st to 23rd June), Philippines (Manila, 6th to 7th July), Thailand (21st to 23rd September), South America (Brazil, 18th to 20th September) and India (Mumbai, 3rd to 4th October).

Further information about Food Ingredients Europe and the complete line of UBM Live food and ingredient events can be found respectively at: http://fieurope.ingredientsnetwork.com and http://events.ubm.com.

Notes for Editors:

• With offices in the UK, Netherlands, USA, UAE and Brazil, UBM Live operates a number of market leading exhibitions, awards, websites/online products and publications in twenty different business sectors. UBM Live is part of UBM Ltd, a leading global media company listed on the London Stock Exchange.  See www.ubmlive.com

• UBM Ltd is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. See www.ubm.com

SOURCE UBM Live