Hot Tuna announced the appointment of Marcus Gracey as the company's managing director. Marcus joins Hot Tuna from the Australia & Asia Pacific Division of Quiksilver Inc. Marcus immediate focus with Hot Tuna will be to drive sales growth within the U.S. licensee business and to locate and sign appropriate licensees in Europe.
James Podaridis remains as executive director with key responsibility for business development.
Marcus brings a wealth of experience to Hot Tuna, having been the general counsel for Quiksilver Australia & Asia Pacific for the past three years. Marcus has extensive strategic industry expertise in areas that include, business development, global infrastructure, corporate compliance, licensee modelling, acquisitions, and restructuring, sponsorship, athlete management, trade mark, and brand management.
Marcus operational experience obtained through working with management across the organisation in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong and China, will be of significant benefit to Hot Tuna which is currently looking to extend its licensees in Asia Pacific region as well as UK, Europe and the US. During the past three years, Marcus also took an active role in the globalisation process of Quiksilvers Asia Pacific division, whereby the Asia Pacific Licensee Group was acquired by and merged into Quiksilver Inc.
On his appointment to the Hot Tuna Board Marcus Gracey, stated: “Growing up in Australia there were only a handful of original core surf brands around and Hot Tuna was one of them. Having disappeared off the radar for some time, I was thrilled to see it re-emerge with its AIM listing earlier this year. I am very excited about my new role with Hot Tuna as I can see we have the potential to rival the big names in both global presence and distribution.”
Being a passionate surfer and having spent a significant portion of his life chasing waves around the world, Marcus has an important appreciation and empathy for the surfing lifestyle. A previous Western Australian state scholastic surfing representative, Marcus also holds a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws degree from the Northern Territory University (N.T, Australia), a Masters Degree in Intellectual Property Law from Murdoch University, Western Australia and is a Chartered Company Secretary.
Tony Oxley, chief executive, commented: “The combination of Marcus strategic and operational experience within the surf lifestyle market will be an invaluable addition to Hot Tunas executive management team.”
Ranjit Murugason, chairman added: “The Board is excited about obtaining the benefit of Marcus industry skills and experience. He has a unique balance of boardroom skills with a board shorts lifestyle that makes him an ideal executive appointment to the Board and a valuable asset to the company. The operational and organisational experience that Marcus brings from Quiksilver, one of the most successfully developed global surf lifestyle brands, will accelerate the growth and brand positioning of Hot Tuna internationally and especially in our core markets.”
