JONATHAN BODANSKY
Founder & Managing Director
Jonathan founded Bodansky Sponsorship Ltd (so now you know!) in 1987, with the original aim of getting involved in sport sponsorship, however early involvement in Paul McCartney’s World Tour led to BSL becoming a major player in the music industry. Jonathan went on to forge long-standing relationships with several key clients, enabling BSL to grow and expand into new areas of business and activities, and ultimately allowing him to fulfil his original dream of working in the sports industry, an area in which BSL still specialises today.
Jonathan continues to play a hands on role in the daily management of BSL, overseeing many existing projects and working closely with key clients.
Life before BSL
Jonathan spent 12 years in the advertising industry working on Cadburys, Dulux, British Telecom, Gallagher, Reckitt & Colmans and other blue chip clients before deciding to go it alone and build the BSL empire.
JOHN ADAMS
Director
John became a director of BSL in 2003 and is the man responsible for ensuring all of Jonathan’s promises are realised in full force. His logistical and technical expertise are second to none and so when it comes to coordinating large-scale projects and events, nine times out of ten, John is the guy at the helm of the BSL ship.
Life before BSL
John lived and worked in Germany for Toyota Motorsport as Chief Rally Mechanic on Carlos Sainz’s car, winning two World Championships in the process. He has extensive experience in engineering and logistics, and is fluent in German.
ANGIE SHEPHERD
PA to Jonathan, and overseer of the company accounts and all office affairs, Angie is BSL’s longest serving team member and one lady who knows pretty much everything there is to know about BSL and Jonathan Bodansky! Not content with the weight of these sizeable demands, Angie also gets involved in writing our new business pitches and client proposals, whenever she’s got a spare moment. What a busy lady.
Life before BSL
Angie’s career started in Capital Radio’s marketing division, where she arranged meetings for the marketing director and assisted his PA. She quickly progressed to team secretary where she worked for a wide variety of people coordinating their busy schedules, before becoming a Sales and Promotions Coordinator for the Westin Hotel and Resort chain, her last job before joining BSL.
BRUCE MACKENZIE
Bruce is the ground logistics brain behind our larger events. It is not unusual at some events for us to have several thousand guests and more than 30 vehicles which need to be coordinated and managed at any one time, and it usually falls to Bruce to make sure that every one of our guests is where they need to be, when they need to be there, with the maximum of care. Like John, Bruce’s ability to manage complex logistics without missing a detail or even breaking a sweat, is quite astonishing.
Life before BSL
Bruce worked for Toyota Motorsport as a World Rally Mechanic for several years before joining the team’s specialised sales office. He returned to rallying for a short period working on team coordination and car engineering, before taking up his current role at BSL. Bruce is permanently based in Berlin is fluent in German.
GERLI TAVA
Gerli first worked for BSL at the 2005 World Athletics in Helsinki and has since worked freelance on a multitude of F1 projects which included heading up all of Toyota’s testing events in 2007. She currently works on the Force India F1 team assisting in the on-site management of their Paddock Club. Gerli has planned and executed several hugely successful parties all over the world on behalf of Force India.
Life before BSL
Since completing her Degree in Economics, Gerli has amassed an impressive history in events having project-managed the Motocross Enduro Events and International Jet Ski Competitions in her native Estonia. Her event experience also includes coordinating fashion shows in Estonia and Finland and this talented lady is fluent in Estonian, Finnish, Russian, English and German.
HANNAH KIRWAN
Hannah is one of our longest serving team members, and director of our long-standing Lexus account, an area that she manages with great skill and expertise. Hannah’s time is mostly spent project managing the hospitality and logistics around the British Open Golf Championship for which Lexus are an official partner, and other smaller projects such as the Vienna State Opera. Her vast experience means that she is also ideally suited to head up our World Athletics championship which she does on behalf of Toyota.
Life before BSL
Hannah worked for the Linguarama Language School in Rome as an English teacher, learning to speak Italian before moving back to the UK. She then worked for ATG Oxford on their luxury walking & gastronomy holidays in Italy, France and Spain, before making the move to BSL where she has worked for the last 7 years as one of our longest serving team members.
HARRIET CHUN (HARRY)
Harry joined BSL in 2007 and was quickly snapped up by Toyota Motor Europe who borrowed her from BSL for the 2008 season, to be based in their Brussels team and assist on various local and international events. Harry returned from her secondment at the start of 2009 and has quickly become a valued member of the team, acting as key support on various Toyota events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed, ‘Home’ Grand Prix in Belgium and the World Athletics Championships. Harry is now on her second overseas mission for BSL supporting our client ADMM (Abu Dhabi circuit) in managing their events department.
Life Before BSL
Harry studied Leisure Planning and Geography at Oxford Brookes University and did work experience at BSL during this time where she worked at the World Athletics in Paris and Italian Grand Prix 2003, giving her the insight to strive for a future role in event management. She then worked a few years in Recruitment before returning to events; in the mean time organising a couple of successful fund raising events in aid of the the Tsunami in 2004/2005
JAMES BARR
James is a key support across all BSL accounts and plays a vital role in supporting the team to deliver on this large and challenging hospitality programme. He is responsible for BSL’s International F1 Grandstand bookings and is the guy we all go when the technology fails! His wealth of experience and knowledge across a wide range of sporting events makes James the perfect on-site event support too.
Life before BSL
James began his career at Wiston House organising conferences for the Foreign and Commonwealth office. After taking a year out to study towards his MCSE he went on to work for Gibbs Aquada organising a variety of events at the Birmingham Motor Show, Goodwood Festival of Speed and the London Boat Show.
KERRY ARNOLD
Kerry splits her time between managing the Force India F1 account, taking a leading role in Toyota events such as Goodwood Festival of Speed and World Athletics and securing accommodation at various locations all over the world. She looks after thousands of hotels bookings and has built up an impressive network of hospitality contacts across the globe that enable BSL to achieve the most competitive rates for each of our clients. Mainly dealing with hotels during the F1 period when demand is highest, Kerry crucially forecasts and plans in advance to meet our client needs. She handles the buying and selling of rooms in a highly competitive environment and organises any events that are hotel based.
Life before BSL
Kerry graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a degree in International Tourism Management. She has since lived in Florida, working as the Recreation & Events Manager for Universal Studios Royal Pacific Resort. More recently Kerry has experienced life at The Ministry of Defence as an Events Coordinator organizing large conferences and ceremonies. She is also fluent in German.
LAUREN HARRIS
Having spent two very successful seasons working on the hugely busy ING Renault F1 account, Lauren has now decided to give up her jet set lifestyle and stay closer to home. These days Lauren is working on New Business for BSL along with a variety of ad-hoc UK projects. Lauren is also currently putting her unparalleled organisational skills toward setting up her very own wedding planning business - Florence Blue.
Life before BSL
Graduating from Cardiff University with a masters in Journalism and English, Lauren went on to work for lad’s mag, FHM as a staff writer. She has since lived in Sydney where she worked as a features writer for Cosmopolitan magazine. After organising a variety of industry events she decided a career change was in need so came and knocked on our door.
MONICA ROLDAN
Monica is one of our foreign based freelancers who lives in Barcelona but works for BSL at most Grand Prix, managing our VIP guest logistics, working in the Paddock Club and coordinating F1 press dinners. She speaks Spanish, English and French and has a strong understanding of the finer details required to make exclusive events successful.
Life before BSL
Monica has a huge amount of event experience, having worked in hotels and cruise ships all over the world. Prior to joining BSL, she was a luxury property negotiator in the UK for developments in France and Spain. In the winter months when she’s not working for BSL, she can be found managing the reception of a luxury Hotel in the French Alps.
PAUL SCOTT
Paul leads The Open Golf Championship for Lexus. He has a growing involvement in our Middle East business and continues his role on the operational side of BSL, taking care of and advising on everything from the shipment of the materials we need onsite to the communication and IT needs for our team.
Life before BSL
Paul studied a Business Degree at Bournemouth University. While at University he impressed BSL during the summer break when he assisted on a number of projects which led to him becoming a full time member of staff during summer 2006.
ROBERT JACKSON
Robert works as a consultant to BSL on large projects and assists on our VIP guest programmes for a number of clients. He has a huge amount of experience in sports sponsorship and seems to know pretty much all there is to know about the industry, and everyone within it!
Life before BSL
Formerly Robert was the Marketing Manager at Yamaha Motor and Racing Manager for Yamaha UK. He then worked as a Motorsport Media & New Event Consultant for Philip Morris Asia. While living in California for 10 years he worked with Laguna Seca Raceway, Honda, GM and BMW before returning to Europe & working as a consultant for Dentsu Inc
TOMOKI TAKAHASHI (TAKA)
Taka now splits his time between studying at London’s prestigious Brunel University and helping us out at BSL both in the office, and on events having completed a very successful gap year with the company in 2008. BSL hopes for his full-time return to BSL for the 2012 season, though we suspect that he may be destined for greater things given that's he's studying Motorsports engineering .Taka is fluent in Japanese.
Life before BSL
Currently studying Motorsports Engineering at Brunel, Tomoki has studied Design and Technology, Chemistry and Art at ‘A level’. Taka seems to spend all his money on playing with engines and cars, he also races enduro-motor bikes, and in April 2007, he completed the Grappe de Cyrano (in Bordeaux, France), a gruelling 2-day 550km cross country race.
TIM SILVEY
Tim begun his career with BSL in 2005 and was a supporting manager on the British Open Golf Championship for Lexus for two years. During this period Tim successfully brokered a deal which secured BSL as the official agent of the 2007 Rugby World before going onto to manage the Scottish Newcastle account at both the rugby and football World Cups. Since then Tim has been focused on the ING F1 account where he has had full project responsibility for numerous major Grand Prix and other F1 related events. Tim is currently on temporary loan to Abu Dhabi where he is our on-site contact with ADMM as we work towards delivering the VIP circuit shuttles at the 1st Ethiad Airways Grand Prix in November.
Life before BSL
At university Tim studied Business and Hospitality management, before putting his skills to the test at the Portofino Bay Hotel in Florida, as their Recreation and Events Manager. He then worked for Michael Page as a Financial Recruitment Consultant before returning to his event roots at BSL.
LARA SWEIDA-METWALLY
A recent addition to the BSL team, Lara has just joined from a UK based communications agency predominantly focused on F1. She brings with her a wealth of experience – from working both agency and client side within F1 and managing international circuit launches for clients such as BIC and YMC (Yas Marina Circuit) to handling corporate events for clients such as Nestle, BNP Paribas, and Daimler Chrysler , she has been a very busy lady over the last 3 years! For the last year and a half she has been based in Abu Dhabi, and was responsible for supporting ADMM in managing their events. She will play a key role in getting BSL Middle East off its’ feet!
Life before BSL
Lara graduated in International Business with Spanish from Westminster University and as part of her degree, spent a year living in Madrid, both working and studying. She has a flair for languages and is fluent in English, German, French, Spanish and Arabic which will prove invaluable for BSL in Abu Dhabi.
CHLOE FURR
Chloe joined BSL in 2010. Her enthusiasm for travel as well as her exceptional planning skills makes her the perfect new addition to the Force India F1 team. Chloe is also highly involved with the Nurburgring events including the 24hr race in Germany.
Life before BSL
Chloe graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a degree in Business and Human Resource Management. After working at Buckingham Palace on her placement year and finishing her degree she moved to sunny Turkey and ran a small boutique hotel for two seasons. Chloe has recently returned to London to join our team and pursue her passion for crafting exceptional events.
SHAKILL SAIRALLY
Shakill is a new edition to the BSL team and is working on The Wimbledon Cannizaro Festival.
Life before BSL
Shakill studied Business Studies at The University of Greenwich. Whilst there he was working in the Optical Industry and spent 5 years with an independent practice in management and development. Shakill shares a huge interest in motorsport and tries to attend amateur racing events in the South East of England.
JESS CLOUTING
Jess is the newest addition to the BSL team.
Prior to joining BSL, Jess spent three years specialising in PR and event management for the international single-seater series A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. She managed on and off track event support to teams, sponsors and the media, and brings with her a wealth of experience and strong motorsport contacts from across the globe.
During her time at A1GP, she was responsible for planning and executing driver PR events, managing the set up and running of the International media centre and press accreditation service, coordinating passenger rides and managing hospitality and paddock tours for VIP guests and sponsors.
Life before BSL
Jess graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a degree in Sports Studies. She spent two years gaining experience in event marketing and hospitality for a range of high profile clients and events including the Dunlop Motorsport team, npower Test Cricket, and the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup before landing her role at A1GP.
She is excited to start her new challenge with BSL which will enable her to combine her passion for motorsports, events and travel.
NANCY POWER
Nancy worked closely with BSL on the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2009 and demonstrated her ability to work under pressure and multi-task which has now resulted in her joining our BSL Middle East Team as Manager. Previously she managed the Professional Conference Organiser division for a local Tour Operator, working on many major events in the UAE and also for Reed Exhibitions where she played a major role in the successful launch of the meetings exhibition GIBTM, in Abu Dhabi. During these 5 years, Nancy has built an excellent network of local and international contacts along with a diverse knowledge of the destination.
Life before BSL
Nancy was brought up in her parent's hotel which has resulted in her having the hospitality industry in her blood. After studying a Mathematics and Geography Degree her career started in the events industry working on events to include BBC Good Food and London Fashion Week, followed by 6 years working as Operations Manager for UK Tour Operators where she was responsible for crises management to include the 2004 tsunami.
LAURA COX
Laura is the newest recruit to BSL. She will be a key support helping to look after the vast array of hotel bookings for all our clients. As well as marketing and promoting the Cannizaro Festival, Laura is also going to be working at Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.
Life before BSL
Laura has recently graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in Sociology. Having run her own successful event in Newcastle, Laura worked for a few months in Beauty PR. To pursue her career in events (her main passion being Formula 1) Laura moved to London and BSL was the obvious choice.
RADKA PLUNDEROVA
Radka has recently joined the BSL Middle East office in Abu Dhabi where she has worked on the Formula 1 logistics and as a part of the Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management Events team in the first quarter of 2010. Radka speaks Czech, Slovak, English and German.
Life before BSL
Radka is originaly from the Czech Republic and graduated from Opava University with a degree in Development and Management of Regional Tourism in 2001. She has worked in an outbound travel agency in Prague and in several overseas destinations (Spain, Greece, Italy) before settling in the UAE. Her first assignment in the Middle East was to work as an Inbound Manager for one of the local DMCs, in 2006 she switched for the Sales role in the pre-opening team of Southern Sun hotel chain launching 4star Al Manzil & Qamardeen Hotels in Downtown Burj Dubai, and in 2008 she has taken over the International Sales department in Hertz Al Futtaim.
WAQAS HAFEEZ
A very recent addition to the BSL team, Waqas closely worked with BSL on the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2009 and played a major role in supporting the operation of the event. He decided to take a new turn in his career and joined BSL. Waqas earlier worked for a local tour operator where managed the Tours & Excursion Department to include the desert camp venue and worked on many major indoor and outdoor events.
Life before BSL
Waqas was born and brought up in Abu Dhabi, acquiring an excellent understanding of local culture and traditions. He studied Business Administration and various computer courses to include hardware, networking and computer programming. He brings with him language skills which will be invaluable to the operation of BSL - Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and English.
PAOLA COPPI
Paola joined BSL in 2010 to work on the Force India F1 Team account, assisting in the management of their hospitality and Paddock Club.
She has a good experience in Formula One where she started to work as Race Assistant and PA to Flavio Briatore, travelling to all the Formula 1 events with the Renault F1 Team in 2007.
Life before BSL
After making her first steps in the tourism business she worked for 7 years in a public relations and corporate communications company based in Rome, assisting clients such as Boeing, Rolls-Royce and Cathay Pacific Airways.
She moved to London in 2006 where she started to work for Flavio Briatore in the fashion company Billionaire Italian Couture, going through different activities wich involved being a press assistant, office administrator and PA to the stylish Angelo Galasso.
Paola speaks Italian and English. She also speaks Spanish to an intermediate level but she promises she will become fluent soon.
