County champions Nottinghamshire have turned to football for their next chief executive, naming Richard Kenyon after a lengthy search that crossed several sports. Kenyon, 45, leaves Everton FC after 11 years in senior commercial and communications posts and is expected at Trent Bridge in December.
Lisa Pursehouse, the club’s longstanding CEO, confirmed her decision to step away back in the spring. Her final act was to watch the men’s side lift their first County Championship since 2010, a moment many on the committee felt was a fitting full stop to her 14-season tenure.
Kenyon’s football CV is hard to miss. At Goodison Park he oversaw marketing, sponsorship and – perhaps most pertinently for a ground-owning county – major stadium planning. Notts highlighted his role in Everton’s planned shift from Goodison to the new Hill Dickinson Stadium as a key marker of experience they can lean on.
Club chair Andy Hunt said: “His leadership at Everton spanned critical areas including commercial strategy, global brand development, major infrastructure projects, and multi-stakeholder consultation – all directly relevant to the current and future ambitions of our club.”
The timing is important. Over the next few weeks Notts expect to rubber-stamp a £40 million joint-venture with US investors Cain International and Ares Management, giving the county a 51 per cent controlling share of Trent Rockets in the Hundred. The deal is complicated, and having a chief executive fluent in board-room negotiation should help steady nerves.
Kenyon called the post “a tremendous privilege”, adding: “It’s a great credit to the outgoing CEO and her team that I’ll be joining a club in such a strong position. I can’t wait to get started later this year and look forward to working closely with the general committee, the executive team, and our members to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead for this great club and all of its teams.”
Michael Temple, currently commercial director, will cover the top job until Kenyon arrives. Temple steps into an office already juggling next season’s fixture list, Trent Rockets staffing and the usual winter ground work.
Notts are not alone in changing guard. Leicestershire have brought in Emma White from rugby union, Kent are leaning on COO Nimmo Reid in the interim, and Sussex’s Pete Fitzboyden has stepped away for personal reasons. A quiet off-season it is not, though county followers will recognise this ritual reshuffle as part of the game’s own cycle.
For Nottinghamshire, the focus is clear: bed in a new chief executive, sign off the Rockets deal, and keep the Championship pennant flying over the pavilion a little longer.
