VisitScotland Events Directorate has today announced the appointment of Rebecca Edser as Head of EventScotland.
Edser, who will start in September, joins Scotland’s national event organisation from her current role as Senior Major Events Consultant at UK Sport, the national high-performance sport agency which supports Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes and the staging of major sporting events.
With over 13 years’ experience at UK Sport, Edser brings with her a wealth of event experience both at national and international level, including bidding and supporting the staging of major events, as well as managing strategic partnerships across a range of organisations.
Highlights across her career include the governments Event Research Programme in 2021. As Head of Delivery, Edser was responsible for teams working with Wembley Stadium, the Brit Awards, Royal Ascot and the Silverstone F1 Grand Prix, the programme not only provided scientific evidence on the transmission of Covid-19 but enabled testing of the covid certification to support the restart and recovery of the sector.
More recently, Edser has fulfilled a secondment to the Greater London Authority, leading London’s major sports events team, including the management of existing commitments, and the identification and securing of new events and properties. This has included key strategic work on the submission for UK and Ireland UEFA EURO 2028 bid, and UEFA Champions League Final 2024.
Prior to her role at UK Sport, Rebecca held roles at London 2012, Scottish Rugby Union and EventScotland as an Event Manager working on a wide-ranging portfolio of sport and cultural events including Piping Live and Glasgow International.
In her new role as Head of EventScotland, Rebecca will be responsible for leading Scotland’s national major event organisation to attract and secure major sporting and cultural events, continue to raise Scotland’s reputation as the perfect stage and support the recovery and growth of a flourishing and competitive events industry.
Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events said:
“I would like to congratulate Rebecca Edser on her appointment as the new Head of EventScotland. Rebecca brings a passion for both sporting and cultural events, along with a wealth of experience across a range of areas including working with national governing bodies and international federations on the feasibility, bidding and staging of events to ensure they are delivered to a world leading level.
Having worked with Rebecca in the lead up to 2023 UCI World Cycling Championships, I know she will be a valuable addition not only to EventScotland, but to the wider events sector, and our key strategic relationships. Having started her career at EventScotland, we are excited to welcome Rebecca back to the fold in this senior role and I look forward to working with her as we continue to lead, shape and secure events for Scotland, as well as move forward with the refresh of Scotland’s National Events Strategy.”
Rebecca Edser said:
“I am thrilled to have been appointed as the Head of EventScotland. Scotland has an international reputation as an ambitious and innovative host of sporting and cultural events and while the last few years have been challenging for the sector, I believe that there is much to look forward to demonstrated by this summer’s exciting programme of events that includes, the Tall Ships in Lerwick and the inaugural staging of the UCI Cycling World Championships that will take place across Scotland.
It is an exciting time to re-join the organisation as we look to review and refresh Scotland’s National Events Strategy ‘Scotland the Perfect Stage’, and I very much look forward to establishing partnerships and relationships across Scotland, not only to deliver the new strategy but to ensure that this is a sector that continues to thrive.”
Rebecca succeeds current post holder Robbie Clyde who will take up a new role as Chief Executive Officer of Scottish Golf.
Author: Adam Parry
Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.
