VMS Live appoints new CEO

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UK venue management company VMS Live has appointed Bert Van Horck as its new CEO.

Alongside Bert’s appointment to the board of directors of the VMS Live group of companies, Kate Forster, widow of VMS founder and CEO Steve Forster, has joined the board as non-executive director. As many will sadly remember, Steve Forster, entrepreneur, creator, visionary and CEO of the VMS Live group of companies, died unexpectedly earlier this year.

Kate commented: “I am focusing on the opportunity to preserve and continue to grow the legacy of my late husband. This is the appropriate time to extend a huge thank you all the staff, suppliers, clients and other stakeholders who all contributed to keeping VMS Live running in the difficult past five months.

“Bert has a unique track record in the event industry, including promoting and producing live entertainment and starting up venues and I am looking forward to working with him to take the Company forward.”

Bert’s other experience includes being the CEO of event crowd management specialists, ICMS, trading as Showsec in the UK, and, prior to that, managing director at de Boer Structures UK. More recently Bert has worked with organising committees of multi-sport events, such as successfully heading the safety and security department during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Bert stated: “VMS Live is in a great space in this dynamic sector and I am very much looking to working with the new team to build on the incredible foundations and legacy Steve Forster, Richard Maides and Carl Bathgate have put in place.

“We’d also like to give special thanks to Richard (Maides) and Carl (Bathgate) who led the company over this difficult recent period. Both have now resigned following a transfer of their duties. The company is grateful for their long-standing service and contribution to its growth, particularly their special efforts over these five last months. They played a major part in developing the USP’s which make VMS Live such a unique group of companies; blending venue management, promoting and ticketing into a one-stop-shop entertainment organisation.”

Molly Hookings
Author: Molly Hookings

Molly joined the editorial team in March 2019. She has several years’ experience working in broadcast and journalism, as well as marketing and PR. Past experience includes working for the BBC and independent publishing houses. If you have a story you think Molly might be interested in, please email: molly@eventindustrynews.com