Former Syco Entertainment Global CEO Charles Garland has been appointed a non-executive director at European festival giant Superstruct Entertainment.

It is the second major appointment by the company in recent months. In April, former Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon took on the role of CEO at Superstruct Entertainment at what it described as a ‘pivotal moment’ for the company. Superstruct, which was acquired by KKR last year in a 1.3 billion deal, owns more than a dozen major UK music festivals, as part of a portfolio of more than 80 across 10 countries.

Garland, who most recently worked with clients including The Rolling Stones and Elton John on driving their live sponsorship revenues, has an enviable CV. In 1998 he left the role of group development director at creative advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) to go into partnership with Simon Fuller, the former manager of the Spice Girls. He became global COO of Fuller’s 19 Entertainment, which developed the TV franchise Pop Idol/American Idol and signed the likes of David and Victoria Beckham.

In 2011, Garland joined Sony Music’s JV with Simon Cowell, Syco Entertainment, as COO before becoming its Global CEO overseeing entertainment properties X Factor and Got Talent. Garland left Syco Entertainment in 2014 to establish Sports Rights Management working with clients including Real Madrid, World Surf League and The Jockey Club.

“Charles Garland has an extraordinary track record driving some of the most innovative and entrepreneurial entertainment properties of the past two decades,” said Superstruct chair Andrew Fisher. “As Superstruct Entertainment enters its next dynamic stage of development, his expertise and insight will be an extremely valuable addition to our Board.”

Garland said, “I am delighted to be joining the Superstruct Board at a time when live entertainment, in all its present and potential future forms, shows great potential for growth and expansion as we see generations of consumers placing a greater value on experiences over possessions. The pace of change and growth for the company is very exciting and there are many opportunities ahead”.

Superstruct was launched by Creamfields festival (70,000) founder and former Live Nation exec James Barton and Roderik Schlosser in 2017. The latter is moving to a non-executive director role on Superstruct’s Board.

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