Tarsus Group announces new COO and CFO

Tarsus, the global B2B events and media group, has announced two senior appointments. Dan O’Brien (pictured), who joined the company as chief financial officer in 2011, becomes the chief operating officer. In this newly created role, O’Brien will oversee the company’s business operations and core group functions.

Mark Pennington has been appointed as CFO and both men will take up their new roles on 31 March 2021.

Commenting on the appointments, group CEO Douglas Emslie said: “2020 was an incredibly challenging year for the events industry – with a number of our territories now operating at near normality and live events reopening, we are positioning ourselves for a period of accelerated growth.

“I am delighted that we have been able to promote from within the business and restructure the senior team with two appointments that will be instrumental in our future success. Dan’s innate understanding of the company as well as the wider industry means he is perfectly placed to steer the Group forward whilst Mark has demonstrated strong leadership and financial management throughout his time at Tarsus and will be an excellent CFO for the business.”

Prior to joining the business, O’Brien served as CFO at TV production company Shine Group and at the B2B publisher Huveaux plc, he has also held senior finance roles at Hanson plc and Eidos. Pennington has been with Tarsus Group since 2014 and his responsibilities have included oversight of the Group’s financial operations while also taking on the role of CFO for Tarsus Group’s US operations. He previously held senior finance roles at NBCUniversal in London having qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG in 2004.

Tarsus Group operates across numerous verticals including aviation, medical, labels, travel and manufacturing with leading brands such as the Dubai Airshow, Labelexpo, Hometex and Connect Meetings in its portfolio.