The Outdoor Industries Association (OIA) in the United Kingdom named Andrew Denton as its new chief executives effective in September. Denton brings 27 years of industry experience to the OIA and will work closely with communications director Louise Ramsay and the associations board.
In June, the OIA outlined plans to change its executive structure to reflect the organisations evolving role and expanding scope. In the future, the association will be run by a team comprising a part-time chief executive and a part-time communications director, who will continue to be supported by the current membership and administration manager.
Andrew Denton has been working in the outdoor sector since 1984, starting his career in outdoor education and then moved on to a series of senior management and ownership roles in major businesses such as Rohan, Mountain Equipment, Sprayway, The Peaco Group and the Outdoor Sports Company (OSC). He has built up experience in all aspects of running an outdoor enterprise and is well known and well respected within the industry. A keen outdoor activist, Denton is an accomplished mountaineer, mountain biker, ski mountaineer and triathlete. He is a member of the Alpine Club and has undertaken numerous expeditions.
Once we made the decision to restructure the OIAs executive team, it was essential that we appointed a chief executive with the ability to get on with the job at hand immediately,” said Corry Taylor, chair of the OIA. “We received some very high calibre applications, but Andrew was particularly impressive. He outlined his clear understanding of the kind of chief executive that the association now needs, and he also demonstrated very effectively that he is the person who can offer that leadership. Everyone in the interview panel was very pleased to be able to offer Andrew the job and we look forward to working with him soon.
