Davenport takes helm at UK Post

Gaynor Davenport has been appointed the first ever Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UK Post - the new association representing the film and broadcast postproduction and effects industry.
Davenport was formerly Chief Operating Officer of The Listening Company (TLC), a contact centre with a division specialising in media. Her clients included Sky, Channel 4 and Disney. She joined TLC during the company’s launch stage as one of the two founding directors and played a major role over five years in building it into a multi-million pound organisation. Davenport has strong experience of all the issues facing a start up organisation including skills in budget and cost control, liaison with government agencies, and human resources.
Film and broadcast postproduction and effects – which includes work on the latest blockbusters ‘Troy’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ - is one of the industries where the UK is an international leader with little competition other than in the US. The UK’s entrepreneurial and creative talent has a worldwide reputation that keeps indigenous work in the UK and draws major contracts from the US and elsewhere. With a £1.7 billion turnover, more and more postproduction work is being generated through multiple delivery platforms and international distribution.
Davenport said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have the chance to make a contribution to the sector. This is a really exciting industry and the formation of such an association is long overdue. The members have recently expressed their views with regard to what the overarching aims of UK Post should be. It’s now up to me to formalise and articulate those aims and objectives. Focus areas include: creation of the association’s infrastructure, development of the current membership, co-ordination of government assistance for members and naturally domestic and international promotion. Additionally, UK Post intends to play an enhanced and exciting role in training initiatives for the industry.
“I want to deliver a useful service to our members which I hope will play a part in making their companies even more successful. The role of UK Post should be a combination of assistance, representation and promotion. It is important for us to get more emerging companies and more regional members on board and I intend to address this as a priority.”
(GB)