Mott MacDonald announces the recruitment of two event specialists

Mott MacDonald has announced the recruitment of two event specialists – Jim Frayling and Edward Selman – to enhance the existing quality and breadth of services offered to Clients in the Sport and Events sector.

Rob Sayce, Director and UK Sport and Events Advisory Lead for Mott MacDonald, said:

Following an 18-month period of steady growth and the delivery of a number of significant advisory commissions in the sport and events sector, it was noticeable from discussions with Clients the benefits we could bring by enhancing our service offering with industry specialists. Jim and I met several years ago and I was immediately impressed with his command of events and operations.

I am absolutely delighted I have been able to convince Jim to take a leading role in the execution of our ambitious and exciting strategy. I was introduced to Edward through a mutual Mott MacDonald contact.

Edward’s CV in venue operation in the UK and roles in major events overseas were an outstanding match to our requirements and he will provide consultancy services on our existing and upcoming projects.

Advisory services

Mott MacDonald have been providing client-side advisory services in the sport and events industry for over decade, including roles on Wembley Stadium, Aviva Stadium, London Olympic Stadium, Leeds Arena, Fulham Riverside Stand, RSC Anderlecht, Brighton & Hove Albion, Brentford FC, Bristol Arena, Cardiff Arena, Swansea Arena and Everton FC Stadium.

Jim Frayling said:

I’m delighted to join Mott Macdonald. It is a phenomenal group of people, who own their own company, with a collaborative culture. Motts has a fantastic track record of delivery and I hope to play my own small part in helping some projects come to life. The breadth of projects I’ve been involved with already is spectacular. We can do something really special in the sport, entertainment, events and venues spaces. We can contribute hugely to our company wide focus on delivering real and tangible social outcomes across cities and precincts.

Edward Selman said:

I’m extremely happy to be joining such a respected business as Mott MacDonald is, and especially one with significant global connections. It’s a great time to come in with our sport business growing from strength to strength. After working with several high-profile sport and entertainment organisations I was inspired by the unique opportunity to help clients capitalise on the stream of emerging opportunities and transform businesses. As a team we are looking to solve business problems at different levels, which excites me.

Mott MacDonald’s Rob Sayce, Jim Frayling and Claire Holdgate were some of the 200+ attendees at the latest ALSD International conference & exhibition hosted by Liverpool FC, with networking events at M&S Bank Arena and Everton’s Goodison Park sponsored by Sodexo.

Jim Frayling 

Jim has over 25 years of experience in the sports and event industries. Immediately prior to joining Mott Macdonald, Jim was undertaking a variety of consulting projects for private clients from the sport and music worlds via his consulting company e db events. Previously, e db e had consulted for the RFU, Butlins/Bourne Leisure and a couple of tech start-ups.

Jim led the UK start up Like This for 18 months, which was due to launch in 2020 prior to Covid locking down the UK and the live events industry worldwide. In this role, Jim also led Stelling Events’s investment projects in events in Adelaide, Australia, which saw shows staged in scenic locations such as the Botanic Gardens from the likes of Bon Jovi, Shania Twain, and Florence & The Machine.

Jim led the operational team in the Kai Tak Sports Park Ltd consortium, which won the US$4bn Design, Build and Operate bid. Jim was Project Director for SMG during the bid and was based in Hong Kong for the duration, working alongside other consortium members New World Developments, Hiphing Construction, Populous and SportFive.

Jim worked for Wembley Stadium and The FA for 12.5 years from the middle of construction until early 2017. In this role, he oversaw the commercial delivery of Wembley Stadium’s event calendar from opening, the groundbreaking partnership with UCFB and oversaw the stadium’s communications from 2003 until just before opening.

Jim worked for Queens Park Rangers FC and London Wasps in a variety of commercial and marketing roles, having joined from his first job in sports sponsorship and marketing positions at The Times and Sunday Times.

Edward Selman 

Edward has an extensive international background in sport and entertainment industry, having led complex projects in Australia, the Middle East and the UK. Prior to joining he held contract roles on the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

Edward has worked with a wide range of governing bodies, promoters and venue operators over the years – most notably advising the Saudi Ministry of Sport ahead of the Joshua v Ruiz World Heavyweight Title. Here, Edward united a range of stakeholders from different organisations and bodies to achieve a record 1.6 million pay per view buys in the United Kingdom, meanwhile maximising on local rights holder objectives.

Edward began his journey working with the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, where he led on strategic and cross functional sport planning. Beyond this, Edward has run several world-renowned venues including The O2 Arena in London.

About Mott MacDonald

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management and development consultancy. Its purpose is to improve society by considering social outcomes in everything it does, relentlessly focusing on excellence and digital innovation, transforming its clients’ businesses, communities and employee opportunities.

Mott MacDonald is a uniquely diverse range of consultants delivering extremely high profile projects across the world, working to meet some of the world’s greatest challenges. It is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world, employing over 16,000 staff in 150 countries.

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The latest edition of ALSD International was hosted by Liverpool Football Club September 6-7, 2021, and featured a high-level conference with 40+ high calibre industry professional speakers, an exhibition hall showcasing products & services, as well as networking events at Everton’s Goodison Park and M&S Bank Arena. 

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