Titan Outdoor UK

The latest addition to the Titan Worldwide family, Titan Outdoor UK, has been excitedly gearing up for what has been affectionately referred to as ‘T-Day’! The buzz in the old Maiden Outdoor office has been steadily growing since the news of the Titan take-over first broke and the teams are now raring to go.

Titan already has quite a reputation in the UK. Chairman, Bill Apfelbaum and Vice Chairman, Don Allman were responsible for running TDI from 1994 to 2000 and memories of that still carry weight within the media industry. Media agencies and poster specialists have welcomed the news of the Titan take-over, with high expectations for increased levels of customer service and a sharp rise in the volume of ideas and creativity, over and above the levels for which Maiden had always been known. The Titan UK team is keen to live up to expectations and make their mark on the media landscape.

The key objective for newly appointed CEO, David Pugh, is to take the best elements of Maiden: professional approach, key personnel and strong understanding of the UK media market; and combine it with the new ideas, energy and initiatives of Titan Worldwide. Finding the perfect blend is a demanding task, but a challenge he is relishing. The Maiden sales team was voted the best in Outdoor last year, narrowly missing out on the crown of Media Week Sales Team of the Year across all media. The aim now is to improve on that achievement and for Titan Outdoor to be known as the best for years to come.

One theme common across the old and the new is that ‘people come first’. Titan has retained the cream of the old Maiden team as well as adding some vital new recruits. The new senior management team is starting to take shape with some new faces already installed into key roles.

First of all there is the fantastic news of the dual appointment of Andy Moug and Alison Reay as joint Managing Directors. As ex-TDI employees, they are familiar with Bill and Don’s business approach and have the ability to share their vision and successfully execute it in the UK market.

Another familiar face is that of John Swainson, who has taken on the key role of Financial Director. John also shares a history with TDI as well as having worked with the Maiden team over the last year in a freelance capacity on some key pitches – including the joint bid with Titan for London Underground. The fourth key appointment is that of Catherine Bosworth, who will be leaving her role at poster specialist, Kinetic, to take on the role of Client Sales Director at Titan.

Inevitably, we lost some people during the uncertain months before Titan’s successful takeover: so the key task now is to recruit 20 sales positions plus various roles across Marketing, Development and Servicing. The Titan UK office is going into recruitment overdrive, scouring the country for the best talent in UK media.

As well as some of the top people, Titan has also acquired some of the best assets in the UK out-of-home market. Maiden had invested heavily in retaining some key Outdoor contracts, including Network Rail and Asda, so Titan immediately comes in as market leader in large format Roadside billboards as well occupying the number 1 position in Rail and Retail advertising opportunities. That portfolio comprises some of the best sites and formats in Outdoor, including the UK leading digital outdoor format, Transvision.

Titan has the financial clout to maximise the potential of these premium assets and will be looking to further consolidate its positioning the market with some new acquisitions. Keep an eye out for more news coming from Titan in the near future.